My Little Brony

It takes a lot to impress me these days. After being on the grid for almost five years, I've pretty much seen it all.

Enter Bronyland, started by, of all things, 4chan?

That's right, started by a 4chan meme on /co/, the "My Little Pony" incarnation currently all over Youtube and TV is now in SL as the "Bronies", a beerslam of "bro" and "pony." Joining the group and rooting through the notices gets you a easily-edited Brony avatar (the hud is unusual, you color the spaces on the hud itself, click sync, and it does the work for you, rather than you editing each individual prim), and searching a bit more you'll come across landmarks to the Bronyland sim.

Curious, I teleported over. And holy HELL, the place is bustling and packed. It's packed with cuteness and sweetness, the perfect spot to unwind when you're in a cute-sy, kiddy mood. I tracked down Twinkle Swizzle. the Lady Of The House, and we got together for a little interview.


Xymbers Slade: Ok, my first question is, how long has this place been up? This has to be a "new meme", and yet the sim looks -really- fleshed out right now.

Twinkie Swizzle: We've been here in this sim for about a week. It was formerly My Little Project sim, but decided it would be better served as a home for the Bronies. We currently have a ticket in to change the name to "Bronyville."

Xymbers Slade: It's certainly become that home. It looks like it sprang up overnight. How did this whole thing get off the ground? I saw a pony in a sandbox a few weeks or so ago and thought "Ok, THAT'S cute." Just a random idea cribbed from 4chan?

Twinkie Swizzle: The week before we moved here, Curly had a little house on a 1024 lot in "Sim." It was interesting packing 30+ people in there. We needed to spread out! Hee-hee.

Xymbers Slade: Yay lag then. I just came from the Korea sims and they're laggy a bit.

Twinkie Swizzle: It all started in late 2010 when Lauren Faust released the Generation 4 “My Little Pony” on The Hub. Because of the super cute art style and fun personalities of the characters, it went viral. 4chan has a weakness for cute.

Xymbers Slade: How many members does the group have right now? Worried that things will go out of control if there's too many to keep track of?

Twinkie Swizzle: We currently have 1681 members, and it's growing by about 100 members a day.

Xymbers Slade: I think the Mentors had something like 2500 before Linden Lab told them to screw off ... heh. Since this whole thing started on 4chan, do you get hit with a lot of griefers who don't like the idea of "cute and sweet"? Most people don't equate 4chan as having a weakness for cute.

Twinkie Swizzle: We went from 30 members to almost 1700 in about two weeks. I'm totally blown away by how many fans are actually here in Second Life. Curly's pony avatar really helped bring everybody together.

Xymbers Slade: It made me want to build a little again or at least edit, hence what I have so far. (smile)

Twinkie Swizzle: We do deal with the occasional griefer. However we have a mod team made up individuals with a lot of previous Second Life moderation experience in other communities such as Furnation and Luskwood. We are not a furry community per-say, however quite a few of our members are furry.

Xymbers Slade: What do you have planned for the sim? Will it become a place to roleplay? Seeing it's based off a popular show and all.

Twinkie Swizzle: We want to give the fans of “Friendship is Magic” a really fun experience here, if roleplay is what they want, I'm sure we can provide some venue for that.

Xymbers Slade: What's the biggest thing that has surprised you since this first got off the ground?

Twinkie Swizzle: Besides the astonishing growth rate, just how amazing the members are. When you think of chan culture, you think of LOLcats, goatse, and internet memes. The Bronies hold friendship and caring for each other in high regard, so it really defeats the stereotype.

Xymbers Slade: This seems to be a big thing on TV right now. Are you worried about repercussions from the creators of the cartoon if they get wind of this, especially if the avs start selling?

Twinkie Swizzle: We see this sim as more of generic interpretation of cute vectorized ponies and their home, rather than a direct copy of Hasbro's intellectual property. We would never sell anything actually branded as "My Little Pony."

Xymbers Slade: Hence the Brony label? (smile)

Twinkie Swizzle: Exactly!

Xymbers Slade: Do you think this is just a fad whose star will fall to earth just as quickly as quickly as it rose? All this work only to go poof if interest dries up?

Twinkie Swizzle: TV shows come and go, but the messages they carry last forever. With Season 2 in the pipeline, we don't really see things slowing down right away. Of course everything has an expiration date, but we're going to have fun while it lasts!

Xymbers Slade: Well, that pretty much covers the questions I had in mind.

Twinkie Swizzle: Sounds fantastic! Thanks for stopping by Xymbers. Brohoof!

This is most definitely a place to visit. Join the Bronies group for access to the avatar and a LOT of modifications (just go through the notices, there are a lot of attachments and things to be had). This is SL Done Right at its finest, not bean counters and lawyers afraid of the aforementioned chan culture.

As of this being typed, all the fun is on the sim called "The Joint", but as Miss Swizzle said, they're getting the sim name changed soon to Bronyville. Go visit, you'll be glad you did.


Xymbers Slade.

Trek Sim Holds RFL “Jail and Bail”

While the Passionate Redheads were doing their “Bid Me Human,” a Trek group was doing their own Relay for Life fundraiser, a “Jail and Bail” by the UFS in the Starfleet Sector 002 sim.


Commander Kermie Mistwallow is in the brig for the 2nd of 3 days on charges of aiding and abetting a known fundraising effort! As part of his punishment for his crime, he may have to shave his head - but only you will be able to decide that through your donations!

This jail and bail ends tomorrow, Sunday, May 22. At the end of that time, Commander Mistwallow will be freed and the punishment extracted upon his hair that you have determined! He's already going to go bald for a week. Will it be longer?


Deciding to take a look, I beamed over, and the two cells I saw were empty, with what looked like a cardboard cutout and a mannequin in their places. Also, the walls were missing, so I thought my computer was being slow and taking forever to rezz. One of the crewwomen, Zania Turner, was there. When I pointed out what I couldn’t see, she clicked on something, and the wall plus a number of details appeared, “We use a lot of rezzers to save on prims.”

I talked to Zania a little about the event, “Our jailbirds have left holograms up, as they are currently sleeping ... If we can get L$100,000 in donations, these guys will go bald, along with most of our Engineers.” As of late Saturday afternoon, they had raised 37,000 Lindens, “He'll be freed after 3 days, and the punishment will be extracted on his hair dependent on what people donated. And the CO of an outpost, and most Engineers, will also follow suit and honor that same hair punishment.”

Of how the idea came about, “I've heard of other jail and bail events that were pretty successful. We were trying to consider what we could do for our fundraisers for this year. When I saw something on TV for the St. Baldrick's Society, I figured that was the perfect ‘ marriage ‘ for an event. St. Baldrick's is a group where the members shave their heads and go bald to stand in solidarity with kids that have cancer. My brother had cancer as a kid, so this was something that kind of hit home in a sense.”

Zania expressed doubts that they could do another fundraiser like this anytime soon, “This is really the last fundraiser we can have as the group that we're in is in dire financial trouble. If we don't raise money for our group, we're going to lose a region. That's why we need to make this one for Relay For Life big. ... We just aren't getting the condo rentals that we need to support us having both regions. We may lose one, if not both, if we don't increase our donations or condo rentals very soon.”

Zania told me a little about the UFS, “We started out as one region, and actually were part of another group until differences in leadership resulted in a split. Since that time, we have forged our own future within the Star Trek universe and acquired a second region. Our RP is based around the Delta Quadrant, where we have picked up the adventures following the return of Voyager to the Alpha Quadrant. As an organization, we are similar to SFI or The Federation (IFT) in that we provide memberships to those who are interested - for free - and they can experience Star Trek in any way they choose. We provide ships and stations for people to be stationed at, and even have a fully functioning Academy that provides almost 200 classes for cadets and members to take.”

At one point, we were joined by another of the group, Simmyish Resident. Zania explained, “Simmy here is in the process of changing, but he's one of our members. He's assigned as the Chief Security Officer for the Pathfinder Research Facility, which is where we're standing (in the Security deck).” They told of some of the fun they had with the jailbirds, “teasing in general, like putting tribbles in Kermie's cell (grins).” Simmyish mentioned, “I've kind of not being able to access the locks for them.” He also mentioned that crew members were showing Kermie samples of his favorite beverage and joyfully drinking it in front of him.

To get to the cells, beam over to Starfleet Sector 002 at (189, 102, 71). For those coming across this article a little late, the sim is a good place to visit for Star Trek fans.

Bixyl Shuftan

Mystery Celebrates Fifth Anniversary with Week of Events

For week after week, month after month, Mystery has been one of the most active romantic-themed sims in Second Life. Every week, it’s Queen of Hearts riverboat club has held events on most days, sometimes two or more a day, both DJs and live singers. And the rest of the sim offers much to see from it’s mountain and waterfall, to it’s balloon ride, to it’s village shops and mystery manor, and much more.

On Sunday May 15th, following a few days of preparation, Mystery launched it’s Fifth Anniversary Celebration. A week of special events and the unveiling of new attractions. Sunday’s event began at 12 Noon SL time, with the ever-popular Debi Latte appearing on the deck of the Queen of Hearts to a large crowd both on the deck and on the dock below.

Also there were Mystery’s owner Tygeria Mirabeau, dressed in a revealing white gown, and manager Amythe Moonlight, in a classy black dress. Several other staff were also there. They helped liven things up with a few jokes and comments. So did Tygeria with a few playful flirty remarks to Debi, which occasionally interrupted her songs with a few giggles. Debi sung a number of songs, including the one adopted by the club as it’s signature: “Queen of Hearts.”


Playin with the Queen of Hearts,
you know it ain’t really smart.
The joker ain’t the only fool,
who’ll do anything for you.


In the middle of the songs, the fireworks went off, and the dark skies over the club were showered with colorful lights. Late in the hour, someone appeared on the ship whom hadn’t been seen in a while: Jazzz Hermit. He was greeted with smiles and a warm welcome.

Debi was scheduled to play until 1 PM, but played one more song. She then turned the stream over to Jazzz. Some of the crowd left, but a number stayed to hear Jazz sing songs such as "What Have I Got to Do to Make You Love Me?" He wondered if he was a little rusty, not having sung in a while, but everyone enjoyed the music. Peoples' attention were also drawn to a little bear magician, "The Great Teddini," behind the singer.

Following Jazzz, those attending were invited to see the sights of the sim. This included some new builds, notably the roller coaster a little distance east of the riverboat. And many did.

There would be more events as the week went on, DJs, live music, and some 7Seas fishing contests. But Sunday was a wonderful start to the anniversary celebrations.

Playin with the Queen of Hearts,
Dancin on the Queen of Hearts,
Five years of the Queen of Hearts,

Bixyl Shuftan

"Fight Like a Girl"

While I was growing up in the 1980’s, wrestling was fairly popular. My friends loved to watch the shows of “good guy” characters like Hulk Hogan beat up the bad boys. And when the bad guy was from Russia or Iran, the emotions could get pretty raw. There were wrestling video games, and even a cartoon show.

But later on, the wrestling scene changed. To paraphrase Jesse “The Body” Ventura, it looked like everyone was a bad guy and the heroes had left the scene. And so most of my friends didn’t watch or talk about wrestling so much any more. And when they did, it was often about it’s glory days, either of the 1980’s or 50’s.

It was probably inevitable that those whom looked fondly at those days would seek to bring wrestling into Second Life.

Not long ago, Sam Nightfire invited me to a wrestling match at the UWS Metrodome on the Virtual World Network sim. I was a little late, but there was still a special fight left, “glad you made it. This match is the ladies championship.” Now males have a reputation of loving to see women fight. But my reaction was a little different, “Um, why am I thinking this may be the most vicious, merciless of the fights?”

Some guys think women can’t fight. That all they can do is slap each other and tear at each others clothes. It’s my experience that this is far from the case. What women lack in strength, they often make up for it in tenacity and strategy, hitting where it hurts, and doing it again, and again, and again. A few can be quite brutal and ruthless at it. Years ago, I read about one tabloid reporter whom volunteered to go at it with a lady wrestler of a semi-professional ring, and the “bad girl” quickly had him begging for mercy.

The match was between Roxy Rockett and Gwenivere Swansong. Because of the number of people around, I didn’t see anything at first. Then one, and the other lady wrestler appeared through the rezz, as well as the guy referee. The action appeared slow at first, though the chat told it was anything but. “YOUR TURN GWEN!” ::catches her breath, closing her eyes from the pain:: “You a**hole!” Following a loud thump, “Hee-hee! You reaaally think it was going to be that easy? Wow, you are really stupid.” “Oh, I’m SO hurt!”

The audience, mainly men but lots of women among them, was not always better. “They fight like girls.” “Go Gwenny!” “Come on Rose! Get up... you can do this!” “You gonna go kick some *ss!!” “Let’s go Gwen get up and beat her *ss.” “Az get in there show ‘um how it's done!”

Before long, the animations weren’t so much affected by lag, and the actions became clearer, the grapples, the kicks, the body slams. I winced, imagining what damage and scars girls in real life would be getting. The two tigresses continued the carnage, one getting a brief hold on the other only to be knocked away. Finally Gwenivere pulled a “stunner” on Roxy, “And THAT, is how you get ROWDY!!” She then pinned her opponent, and the referee counter, “One! ... Two! ... Three!” Roxy then dislodged her, but it was too late. She cursed as the bell rang it’s victory chimes, and the audience roared, “HEEELLLLL YEAAAAHHHHH!!!” Gwenivere was awarded the championship belt, and raised her trophy up in the air proudly.

Not long afterwards, I had the chance to interview the athlete.

Bixyl Shuftan: Congrats on the win Gwenivere

Gwenivere Swansong: Thank you Bixyl.

Bixyl Shuftan: Interesting choice of a wrestling name, "Gwenivere"

Gwenivere Swansong: ::laughs:: Well, actually I began as a fantasy roleplayer. Plus it's a stem from my real-life name Gwendolyn.

Bixyl Shuftan: Oh really, that's interesting.

Gwenivere Swansong: I found out that there was virtual wrestling through my friend, and later mentor, Curt Bombastic.

Bixyl Shuftan: I wasn't aware of official women's matches until tonight. Is this something new?

(nearby wrestler): There's been women's matches about as long as there's been SL wrestling.

Gwenivere Swansong: Nope, actually there are women's divisions in most feds. even one designated to only women. Though, UWS is one of the first to make their women's division a priority and not something placed on the back burner.

Bixyl Shuftan: So how long did it take to become one of the wrestlers here?

Gwenivere Swansong: Not very long at all. Because of my history with roleplay, it was easy for me to understand the meter system and emoting. I was told I took to it pretty naturally, though everyone's training period depends on their own levels and time that they can dedicate to it. I spent , I think, about three weeks training. But still I learn new things everyday.

Bixyl Shuftan: Sounds good ... When people imagine guys watching women scrap, they usually think of guys drooling, staring off into space. What has your impression been?

(several laughs and boos from nearby bystanders)

Gwenivere Swansong: ::chuckles:: We all have fun here, and the occasional good spirited flirt has been exchanged. But when it comes down to the true grit of it, the women of the UWS are respected as equal wrestlers; not just pieces of tush in revealing clothing. We are allowed to be who we are and enjoy what we do without harassment, but on an equal playing field.

Bixyl Shuftan: Well put. ... Tonight's match seemed pretty tough. How long do most matches last?

Gwenivere Swansong: Our matches can last anywhere from ten to fifteen minutes, well, lag permitting. Though most matches do tend to run over, but it's mainly because we end up really enjoying ourselves out there and revel in the fan's reaction and the ambiance that both they, the commentators and the wrestlers create.

(bystander): Gwenny! Congrats on winning the title, Champ!

Gwenivere Swansong: ~ <3 ~ Thanks Drew!

Bixyl Shuftan: Sounds like quite a few memorable moments happen.

Gwenivere Swansong: Yes, I can honestly say that most of my most memorable moments have been in the arena. Whether it's training, performing or just goofing around with my fellow wrestlers. We love what we do here. I really feel like UWS is my home and I have a great time here. The wrestlers, they are my family.

Bixyl Shuftan: Goofing with the other wrestlers ... anything especially hilarious happen?

Gwenivere Swansong: ::laughs:: TONS! We have such a lively bunch of wrestlers here, it's hard not to have a good time. All the way from Derrick zane's many voices, broly's antics , the list just goes on. We are, well, a colorful group of people, to say the least. Falling out of the ring because someone accidently clicked the ropes, word goof ups, just endless.

Bixyl Shuftan: (chuckles) In your opinion, what was the one most worthy for a sports blooper TV show?

Gwenivere Swansong: Aah, that's like trying to pick your favorite song. Hmm.. it would probably have to be a current one between me and Rose. We might be rivals but we also have our moments. We were in the ring a few weeks ago when we were practicing for the one on one match. Well, it was one of the times where the rope wasn't clicked and rose ended up ... eh ... le’ts just say, that for the position we landed in, ... well (blush) you might have seen on “Skinamax.”

But, as I said, that is just the current one that comes to mind. Between lag and hud malfunctions, there is always room for strange things to happen.

Bixyl Shuftan: So now that you've won, anything to say to your fans whom might be reading this?

Gwenivere Swansong: Only that through hard work, dedication and a positive outlook, anything can happen. People focus so much on negativity or think they have to be a jerk or bad*ss to make waves. I want my fans to know that class isn't dead. There is a saying: nice guys always finish last. Not the case... this time. The nice girl finished first.

(bystanding wrestler): Nice speech.

Gwenivere Swansong: Hehe!

Bixyl Shuftan: Thank you for your time, Gwenivere.

Gwenivere Swansong: Thank you for yours as well. I hope to see you coming out again to see us.

With Sammantha hanging around there, I’ll probably be back again soon. But still, women’s wrestling is not what I would call a spectator sport for the timid. “Catfight” my tail. More like pantherfight or lionfight.

Bixyl Shuftan

Mystery’s “Masked Lover” Reveals Himself

Since October 2009, The Mystery sim has had someone occasionally sending anonymous love notes, roses, and presents to sim manager Amythe Moonlight. Always sent through newbie avatars, the real source of what sim owner Tygeria Mirabeau called a “wonderful seduction” remained one of the mysteries of Mystery. Occasionally the Don Juan would take a break, but eventually would remind Amy she had an admirer.

On Easter Sunday, April 24 2011, the “Masked Lover” finally revealed himself, after the sim was done with it’s holiday event.

The event had begun innocently enough, innocent that is except for Amy’s “playboy bunny” outfit that had little fabric on it. Debi Latte was back from a hiatus, her first live performance at Mystery in weeks. The top of the deck was filled with Easter decorations, Easter eggs with prizes inside, an “Alice in Wonderland” globe with Alice and the White Rabbit slowly rotated, and while the Easter bunny may not have shown up, a number of people in kani bunny avs (and a lavender wolfess and frog) showed up to dance. It was about halfway into the party in which the familiar evil laughter echoed across the sim, and Bloodrose joined in, asking Amy for a couples’ dance.

Finally, Debi finished her last song, and people began leaving. When there were just a few others left, Bloodrose got Amy’s attention, brought up the “Masked Lover,” and admitted he was him. Amy was shocked, “It was you?! Oh my God!!” Bloodrose gave his characteristic evil laugh, quite proud in the mystery lasting so long. Debi chuckled, and admitted she was in on the big secret, much to Amy's surprise, “Debi? Oh my God! You knew?!” Blood smiled.

The pair danced together a little longer, then when Debi and one of the staff left, they decided to leave as well. And so came an end to Mystery’s most memorable Easter, and the end to the “Mystery of the Masked Lover.”

Bixyl Shuftan

Are You an Internet Addict? Comment!

If you are reading this, you are a likely Second Life (SL) addict. Take this quick SL addiction quiz (based upon netaddiction.com)

Q1) Do you think about SL when offline?
Q2) Have you tried to cut back or quit SL? Many times?
Q3) Do you often use SL longer than expected?
Q4) Has SL affected your job or Real Life (RL) relationships?
Q5) Do you become irritated when someone RL interrupts your SL?
Q6) Are you addicted to nicotine, drugs, alcohol, or cybersex?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, you really should take the Internet addiction self test at: http://netaddiction.com/resources/internet_addiction_test.htm

How big is this problem? According to NetAddiction.com and Google statistics, 39,000,000 Americans are Internet addicts, about 1 in 8. And over 400,000,000 Internet addicts in China, Korea, and Taiwan combined, about 3 in 10 people. Woah! That's a lot! And more than half suffer from other addictions!

Experts say Internet addicts "use the fantasy world of the Internet to psychologically escape..." That's a dead ringer for Second Life! OMG!

This Canadian documentary shows the lives of two Second Life addicts. One lady destroys her family life because she is always online, and the other moved in with her Second Life biker BF. Bikers are more fun! lol http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2008-2009/strangers_in_paradise/

Personally, I know of several divorces and other RL problems of SL addicted users. These problems are obviously more widespread than we can know. What are your experiences? Please Comment!

On yet another addictive night of fun in SL... Pictures= 1 shows a super-fun party at Dumplings country music club in SL http://slurl.com/secondlife/Esterhal/79/110/38

Picture 2 is incredible SL comedian Lauren Weyland shown onstage with the lovely Wytchwhisper, the co-host of The Weekly Look and one of the stars of YAYCats! Catch Lauren's shows 4:30pm slt most Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Lauren's Place http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cookie/128/237/22

Story originally published on CNN.

Any1 Gnoid

The Shelter

Xymbers Slade recently dropped by "The Shelter," a place in Second Life with the purpose of helping out newcomers. He met up with one of the staff, ChatBrat Pippita, and asked her a few questions about the location.

Xymbers Slade: How long has the Shelter been up?

ChatBrat Pippita: Six and a half years. The Shelter was started by Travis Lambert and Lars Bismark on the Fudo sim on August 20, 2004.



Xymbers Slade: How has it changed from when it first started to now?

ChatBrat Pippita: The Shelter opened on a 1024 sq.m. parcel in 2004 and is currently on a 32624 sq.m. lot.

At first, we didn't focus primarily on new residents. We started out as a place where all residents, old and new, could hang out and just have some good clean fun.

People started bringing newbies to the Shelter because it was the one place you could socialize in a convivial non-threatening atmosphere. We had several events every day, one of which was a newbie welcome party.

Less than a year later, these daily parties evolved into welcoming newbies 24/7. This has been our mission ever since: To provide new residents with a positive social environment in our overwhelming world.

Our culture has become one of friendship and helpfulness: Old residents show new residents the ropes, and as the newbies gain experience, they in turn welcome newer residents into our community.



Xymbers Slade: How many newbies do you normally get on a daily basis?

ChatBrat Pippita: Roughly 250 newbies teleport in each day.


Xymbers Slade: How many of them end up making their home in the Shelter for an extended period, say 4 or 5 months? (I assume with a name like the Shelter, it is quite the popular landing spot to stick around and stay at)

The Shelter is very welcoming. Most new residents tend to stick around or at least return often. And almost all of our Volunteers started as newbies and then stayed to give back to the community.

For example, I found the Shelter as a newbie, learned basic skills here, became a Volunteer and never left. For the past two years, I have been hosting a themed formal dance at the Shelter every Sunday evening. Like many Volunteers, I have developed other commitments and interests in SL, but I never miss my Sunday evenings in the place that will always be my SL home.


Xymbers Slade: How often does the Shelter get griefers?

ChatBrat Pippita: Not very often and they never stay long. Thanks in large part to the Shelter staff.


Xymbers Slade: How can SL change the newbie experience for the better?

ChatBrat Pippita: I don’t think there is a perfect one-size-fits-all newbie experience. We all like to learn, explore, and experience new things in our individual ways. Having a wide variety of newbie-friendly places with readily available learning tools that newcomers can use at their convenience is, I think, a good way to do things.


Xymbers Slade: Is this place one of the first stops of a newbie's journey through SL, still? Or do they need to find it in Search like everything else?

ChatBrat Pippita: The Shelter is in the Destination Guide and our landmark is one of those that new residents are offered when they first rez.


Xymbers Slade: Finally, what is your advice for new people just starting out?

ChatBrat Pippita: Explore, explore, explore! Second Life is full of exciting, fun and magical things to see and do, and is home to amazing, intriguing and creative people. Look around before you put down roots in one spot, strike up conversations with strangers and enjoy the brilliant people you meet. Second Life gives you an opportunity to create your own world and be part of other people’s creations. Enjoy it, learn from it, give to it.

Xymbers Slade

(Pictures by Bixyl Shuftan)

The Shelter is located in the Isabel sim at (26, 249, 86). On the map, it's location is quite literally spelled out with a skysign.

Here’s to You, Kara Nakamori

In the Summer of 2007, I had started giving Second Life another look after a small start of just logging on occasionally and puttering around. I found a place to hang around at: Luskwood. I decided upon a new avatar to replace the starter ringtail I’d been wearing which back then marked one as a newcomer: the Lusk red fox, and I was starting to find interesting places after getting the idea to look on the Internet for Second Life websites.

I made a few friends at Luskwood. There was Lomgren who’s 6 inch avatar never failed to draw attention. There was Hervy the squirrelgirl, whose avatar had gotten a few seconds on CNN when a politician gave a talk on Second Life. And after some time, I came across another I became friends with, Kara Nakamori. At the time I ran into her, Kara was in the freebie purple catgirl avatar that was popular at the time. She stood out from everyone else with the friendliness and enthusiasm, and we ended up friending one another.

In real life, Kara was a Japanese-American whom had lived in Texas since moving there as a little girl. She was a student in college. She once showed me a photograph of herself, a quiet girl. I never did hear her voice, her telling me she felt a little embarrassed by it.

We met a couple more times at Luskwood, and then she invited to teleport to somewhere. I found myself in a place with a number of cafe tables and chairs, with a stone fence around. Kara introduced me to two friends of hers, Blarion and Keli, and told me this place, the STA or Student Travel Association, was a hangout of hers. They soon introduced me to the two who ran the place, Euranna Rossini and GlobetrekkerBob. Anna and Bob were normal humans, as were the rest of the staff there. Bob stood out with his sunglasses, denim vest on a T-shirt, and hat. And in the STA website, pictures of the real-life Bob had him in his hat and sunglasses as well.

The STA was two sims, the east a building showing what the real-life organization was about, and the west a sandbox/newbie help area/social hangout. My friends would sometimes spend time building in the south, and attending events in the north. But we often hung around the center of the sim at the cafe tables around the globe, chatting about goings on, occasionally remarking about the newcomers arriving and walking around as they read the “Welcome to Second Life” signs instructing them on how to go around and giving them a few clothes and useful items. There was a small staff there most times to be there if they needed help. Occasionally the newcomers would have a question for us, which we answered. We were occasionally asked about our furred avatars, and we answered their questions. There was only one occasion someone was rude to us about them.

Time went on, and there were a few changes. Kara put away her freebie av in form of a black and white huskygirl avatar. She told me this look just seemed better for her than a vixen or wolfess. Blarion started out with a skunk, but switched to grey wolfboy. Keli was briefly in a Luskwood "jogi," but changed back to his coyote-like tan-furred avatar. It might have been one of the “Crux” avatars, but not sure. Anna would wear different dresses. O’l’ Bob never did change. Myself, I got a vampire bat for Halloween, which I wore for about a week before putting it away and going back to foxy.

Blarion soon got a job as one ot the STA’s DJs, with Keli pulling host duty. Keli never had his own tip jar, as Blair insisted on splitting his take with him fifty-fifty. Bob and Anna invited the four of us into the STA staff, as we were already helping out the newcomers. One of the titles to the group was “Traveler,” which I liked as I was exploring time to time, and it became the one I wore the most.

Over time, three more people joined our group, all whom like Kara went about in anthro husky avatars. One was Schism, whom dated Kara in the Grid. Another was Balt, the blue huskyboy, whom was the quiet one in the group. And then there was Kana, Kara’s real-life roommate. She was also Japanese-American, but was more aggressive and assertive than Kara. But she fit right in with our group. Kara soon started a group for her closest friends, each of us getting a unique title. The one she gave me, with my jokes, was “King Corny.”

Other STA group members close to us that were practically in included Otis, a self-described “gangsta” with tattoos whom was the other DJ besides Blarion. There was August, with her flowing red hair, whom liked to dance. There was Sparklin Indigo. And there was Ayern, whom was always there with a smile.

There were a few small problems. There was one guy whom somehow got a picture of Kara and Kana at a party. Apparently, he was showing it around, much to Kara’s embarrassment as she was a little shy. Then there was the incident in which someone was rather rude to us, continuing to call us “freaks.” Fortunately Schism was able to shock him so badly, the pest ported away.

One of Bob and Anna’s friends was Sean Voss. He was an avid explorer of Second Life, even publishing a book in real life about the best locations in the Grid. He did weekly tours of places that caught his interest, and we joined and went on the tours, Blair and I being the ones who showed up the most. Sean helped me find a number of places for articles.

In November, I joined Second Life Newspaper, and I now had a steady source of income. A few more tips for Blair, and some of the cartoons I sent to the newspaper came from here. Later that month, the STA hosted an art show, so I was able to feature my hangout in the news. Talking to the artists there, Kara and I found a photographer whom took what became our profile photos.

The happy times continued to December. We continued to make the STA our hangout, but still explored around some. Kara, Schism, and I occasionally took a peek back at Luskwood, the others not so much because of the lag. Soon came Christmas and New Years. These were good times, swapping a few small presents, talking about what we got in real life. And with January came the new year, 2008. We went about as before, meeting up and hanging out, exploring, going to parties, such as the ones my newspaper then was holding, and otherwise having a great time. One of the STA staff, Sparks Indigo, started up a small club in another sim. It seemed there was no end to the good times.

Then on January 25 came a shock. The STA organization canceled it’s support for the two sims Bob and Anna ran, and gave us only a few hours notice before the place was set to de-rezz. Stunned, my friends could only hang around until the end, porting to someplace nearby after it was gone. I logged in after work to get the news. It was truly a shock. Our hangout, our home in Second Life ... gone. Kara was almost in tears.

Then came more trouble. Kara had a stalker. It seems Kara met up and befriended someone at Luskwood months earlier just before his computer went kablooie, and somehow he had interpreted her words of kindness as romantic intentions over the four months he was saving up for a new computer. And when the shocked Kara tried to explain that wasn’t her intention, he went ballistic.

Eventually Schism was able to talk some sense into him. But the damage was done. Without the place she had known as home in Second Life for months, with her sense of security shattered, she told the rest of us she would be leaving, at the least for a few months, but possibly for good. At a hollow tree at a sandbox which had become our new hangout, she gave each of us a hug, and logged out.

With Kara gone, it was like the heart of our group was gone. Her roommate Kana still logged on, saying Kara was busy with college. At one point, Texas was threatened by a hurricaine. Kana told me she and Kara ended up having to spend a few days with family deeper inland. We continued to hang out at the sandbox tree, having a few parties at Spark’s club. Bob never returned to Second Life. Anna built a flower shop, which remains open to this day. We began hanging out with a bunny couple, Fortunas Sands and Caleia whom ran another club, the Fortelia club. But unfortunately troubles soon forced them to close, and Sparks soon had to close her club as well. Kana herself became a builder, showing up often in a macro av, leading to a few “fifty foot woman” jokes.

Finally in May, Kara returned, which was joyous news. But it didn’t last. After a short time, she told us she was going for good. Summer 2008 was the last time I saw her avatar to avatar. I saw her log on a few times after that, but never got an answer to my IM greetings.

She was gone.

Kana soon left for personal reasons, and then the group began to slowly drift apart. We were meeting less and less. Balt became the only one I met up with more than rarely. My work as a reporter on the Grid kept me going on my business, and eventually the road would take me to other friends, and new hangouts and homes.

But I never did forget Kara. She once told me shy as she was in Second Life, in real life she was worse. She told me if I ever greeted her hello in her real life, she’d just shy away. But one as involved in Second Life as I am, I never did forget my first good friend here. Someone whose bright smile and cheery manner helped encourage me to be more involved here, and start on the road which took me where I am now.

Here’s to you, Kara Nakamori.

Bixyl Shuftan

Xymbers Slade’s Interview by Sam Nightfire

About a month and a half after my interview at Virtual Tonight by Sam Nightfire, it was someone else’s turn from Second Life Newser. Our new freelancer Xymbers Slade was invited to appear there.

Xymbers was the last to appear on the show. Before him were a few others. First were two women from the Cheeky Cow Golf course. Next was noted singer Lance Rembrant. Third was Dmitriy Gauseman from the Tombstone RP area. While the show went on, Xymbers had a problem. A SL glitch was causing the eyes on his anthro wolf avatar to bulge out. So he switched to a “Crux” avatar, hoping for the best with this unusual-looking avatar. As it turned out, Sam liked the Crux, impressed with it’s uncommon appearance.

Xymbers was on not to talk about his role at SL Newser, but his fortune telling. He told Sam he had about fifteen years of experience, “I don’t see myself as a psychic ...” He explained what he did as foreseeing potential happenings using tarot cards. He focused on five cards or ten, usually in Second Life a five card reading. Each card, he explained, has a particular meaning, the final card for example representing if the person didn’t change from his or her course.

To skeptics, he often tells them “this seems like the most likely thing to happen.’” He commented dealing with some diehard skeptics was “like arguing religion.” Sam admitted, “I was a skeptic, but ...” She talked about the reading he had given her, “everything you said became true within 5 weeks.”

Sam asked Xymbers if he could do a reading on someone. Xymbers answered he’d need a volunteer from the audience. A boy scout child avatar offered to be the one. Xymbers then rezzed a board, telling the volunteer he needed something to focus on, asking for a location. The boy scout gave his home state, and Xymbers drew the cards.

The first card was pentacles, “foundations, anything you set up now will stand on it’s own, it will stay put.” The second card, Justice, “greater arcana ... karma and fate ... the card of destiny, difficult to change anything.” The third card drawn, Xymbers told him represented a major obstacle, “Upside down knight of cups ... someone about your age.” Right side up, the card represented “the holy grail.” But upside down, “a corrupt knight, someone out for himself, or out to get you. If you take allies, you will get stabbed in the back.” The fourth card drawn was the 8 or pentacles, “work ... establishing ... the knight is going to attempt something, but not get very far.” And the final card drawn, “The Lovers ... I’m tempted to say this means a relationship of some kind. .. like a relationship is starting, someone will try to break it, and fail.”

“Just keep doing what you're doing ... I don't foresee anything negative ... don't take any crap from anybody."

Xymbers went on to say that outside Second Life, he normally does a ten card reading. He could do additional readings, but “do 20 different readings, get 20 different answers,” and asking for more readings to get a better one, he felt, defeated the purpose. The volunteer then admitted to being in a relationship, and thanked Xymbers for the reading. Xymbers did remind him his readings were not a hundred percent accurate.

Xymbers later told me this reading was uncommon in that is was unusually positive. Usually his readings had some kind of warning or caution, such as the one he had given me earlier this year.

A recording of the interview will soon be available on the Virtual World Network website.


Bixyl Shuftan

White Mouse Power

Paisley Beebe interviews Azure Twine of Team GreenZone

Sunday March 6 had a few guests on Paisley Beebe’s “Tonight LIve” show. First was MenuBar Memorial, whom had an unusual kind of breedable pet to sell: a breedable pet rock! Singer Sonyajevette Charisma was on as the musician.

But the main guest was Azure Twine of Team GreenZone. Paisley introduced the subject as being the result of a “massive security hole,” which the product Redzone exploited, and the Greenzone HUD was created in response. Azure began by saying, “Greenzone’s a product, we’re not a militia group .... we don’t promote harassment or greeting. We were grown organically as a group of concerned citizens.”

“I was kinda drafted ... I was the one they chose to speak to you” She had been asked by the creator as her native language was English and his wasn’t, “Redzone scans you ... captures your IP address ... an invasion of your privacy.” Rezone, she explained, will ban all your alts without an appeal process. GreenZone was developed as a result. One of the team had been banned by a RedZone device, so wanted a device to tell her when she was in a Redzone area. She described Redzone some more, and the complaints of it being a community standards violation. As it worked by tracking IP addresses, it would report everyone at a Starbucks venue on Wifi.

One could keep oneself safe from Redzone by turning off both music and media streams. Azure explained she had been told Redzone used only the media stream, but it was best when traveling about to turn off both music and media, “all copybotters out there have media off by default.” Greenzone is a HuD, Azure explained, and not against the ToS. Paisley asked if Voice was vulnerable. Azure answered probably not, although she heard it could be. Greenzone has a 96 meter range

Soft Linden’s ban announcement was discussed, as well as Redzone creator zFire Xue’s threat to release database on web,“I take them very seriously.”

How many Redzone devices were out there? Azure stated zFire claimed 22K, which considering there were 32K sims on the Grid suggested a flawed method of counting, “the number’s much lower.” Of zFire’s claims that if Redzone was banned, another product would replace it, “there are several other systems that say they do what RedZone does, but without the one banned dying in a blaze of glory.” Azure stated Redzone had an animation that if someone banned, the avatar was set afire or caged, others “more professionally done.”

Paisley went on to say she had read some of the Redzone forums, and in a sense could understand the frustrations of some of the Redzone users, saying their argument was
“Linden Lab have allowed Second Life to get to a point of vigilantism because there are no effective ways of protecting oneself from griefing or stalking that people feel comfortable with.” Azure brought up the copybotting issue, agreeing Linden Lab did not take copybotting as seriously as most content creators want, “whom I’m one of.” While there was a process, “It requires knowing that you’ve been copybotted, which is unlikely as the Grid is so large.”

Paisley brought up the stalker potential, that products could be used to track someone on the Grid. Azure explained Redzone could do that as well. Paisley told that the person she had heard had a stalker never filed with Linden Lab as she believed it would just be a waste of time. Azure felt Linden Lab’s attitude was “until you are a victim, there hasn’t been a crime yet.”

How to tell if a Redzone on a sim was the new legal version or the old one? Azure explained there really was no way for someone else to know, “It’s up to Linden Lab to police that. ... It doesn’t actually look in the script.”

Of those Redzone users whom excused themselves, stating since Google tracked IPs, so could they, “Google won’t publicize my IP address, or keep it ... or turn it over to the police. ... there is no good way to link someone’s avatar... only Linden Labs can.”

Azure stated the privacy issue was reaching the point to places on the Grid were starting to advertise themselves as “Redzone Free.” She went on to say Linden Lab had to take this issue more seriously, “someone is going to suffer in real life, there are real life consequences to having your IP address (tracked).” Someone could potentially find himself fired, and with teens in Second Life, this added another level of problems.

Paisley wondered if this might hurt the music industry, with people turning media & music off to stay safe from Redzone and similar, “This is going to affect our entertainment in Second Life.”

Azure felt, “the Lindens need to acknowledge that there is an exploit, acknowledge that there is a hole, and that they do take it seriously and they will fix it.” The issue was not so much the IP addresses than how they were getting them. She concluded, “I sympathize with all the people who think they need to use RedZone ... but that does not justify you violating my privacy.”

As the show took place, there was something of a debate within the audience, albeit a mostly one sided one. There were a few people sympathetic to Redzone, one man in particular whom was very vocal. But most in the audience were clearly against it.

Paisley and Azure chatted for a few minutes after the show. It was felt this was “the Emerald decable all over again. Azure felt zFire’s stubbornness in trying to keep Redzone alive was him “trying to salvage a dying empire.” She did acknowledge it would probably be difficult for Linden Lab to fix the hole.

For more on the show, check the post on Paisley Beebe's Tonight Live site: Here.

For GreenZone's blog, click Here.

Bixyl Shuftan

Jessica Lyon Discusses Phoenix at Ambrosia Live

Last week, the head of the Phoenix Viewer team, Jessica Lyon, made an appearance at the Ambrosia Live Second Life talk show. She answered some questions from hostess Ambrosia Kamala, then took questions from the audience.

Jessica told Ambrosia that contrary to what some thought, she was no “coder genius” - “the team are the real geniuses. I’m just good with people.” She stressed that everyone at Team Phoenix was a volunteer, whom contributed without pay, including herself.

Jessica felt Linden Labs had the viewpoint third-party viewers, Phoenix included, were becoming more of a necessity. She brought up Viewer 2, having the opinion Linden Labs wanted a newcomer-friendly viewer, and about halfway through realized their efforts were leading to something quite different from the old viewer, and older residents would probably be hesitant to adopt it. She reasoned they went ahead, feeling third-party viewers would help “take up the slack” of the old viewer no longer being supported.

Someone asked of there would be a Phoenix viewer as an application for handheld devices like iPhones and iPads. Jessica responded that it sounded like a good idea, but their team didn’t have the time to both work on that and it’s computer viewers.

Jessica mentioned that the SpotOn 3D Grid, another virtual world much smaller than Second Life, had adopted Phoenix as it’s official viewer. Their dealings with Linden Lab were brought up. She explained that when the Phoenix team was first formed, it was a bit difficult dealing with them because much of the sense of trust had been “destroyed” from the Emeraldgate controversy. Time, however, was allowing it to slowly rebuild.

Talking more about Linden Lab’s motivations for encouraging the use of Viewer 2, Jessica felt the Lab has to convince residents to switch to a “2.0 base” before Second Life can truly progress. One example is the Mesh feature that was under development. It was designed to work only with Viewer 2. On Viewer 1, Mesh objects look scrambled.

She mentioned one disadvantage Linden Lab has when competing against 3rd-party viewers: expense. They had expensive overheard 3rd party viewer teams didn’t need to get. While Team Phoenix could just have a group chat inworld to discuss updates for the viewer, Linden Labs has to have a roundtable meeting in an office in real life, with developers paid $40 an hour.

With Jessica was Ed Merryman, another of the Phoenix Team. He mostly left the speaking to Jessica, though made a few jokes about the word “wiki.” He also mentioned that the source code of Viewer 2 was much cleaner than the old viewer. The old viewer, he commented, had been patched and updated so many times, it had become a tangled mess of codes.

Following the show, Jessica talked with a few of the audience, which was a diverse mix of avatars, including a number of ethnic human, furred, and tinies.

Ambrosia Live takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5 to 6 PM, located at the aMuse sim (32, 16, 2994). It's a fairly new show that's gotten some attention, including a media award.

Bixyl Shuftan

Man (Husky) on the Street Interview

It's been four, almost five years since I started in SL. I remember a little bit of gambling (slot machines for minor amounts of $L), large groups of campers (are those sims even around anymore?), everything being under a serious case of "stop motion" and thinking it was all normal (I was on a cheap laptop that could not handle SL, and even my up to date laptop of today is struggling), and wondering "hot damn, anything really IS possible here!".

Now, after nearly five years later and I-don't-know-how-many shifts in power that SL has had, I thought it would be interesting to go back and talk to another old timer about how SL has changed both for better or worse. I teleported over to the old Korea sims where I hang out, and ran into someone going by the name Seth The Husky, someone who has been around since 2004. We sat down to interview and people-watch for a time.

I got a couple of unusual answers. I didn't know Obama had a sim during his run in 2008 for instance, and the situation with college classes no longer getting discounts for sims if the end result is to educate people.

*****

Xymbers Slade: Ok, my first question is what was SL like when you first arrived on the scene? What did you want to see more of at the time? (besides less sound spammers... heh) [Someone had entered the sim with their mic on and music blasting.]

Seth The Husky: It was like the wild west in 2004... there was no such thing as "no push zones" or any of the things that are normal today. You had to watch who you insulted or you would get orbited or worse. In a way people where more polite back then.

Xymbers Slade: I wasn't aware there were no-push zones now. I need to get out more.

Xymbers Slade: What good things have you seen -removed- from SL in the time you've been here?

Seth The Husky: The sense of community has taken a hit. We used to get along with the people in charge and help them on projects. Now they are more interested in making more money and letting Second Life suffer for it. I miss us being in this together... learning from each other. Now that they are taking away free access to colleges... it kinda makes me sad.

Xymbers Slade: Wait, what? Free access to colleges? o.O Since when? Wonder if this is going to have an effect on the classes Caledon Oxbridge does.

Seth The Husky: In the old days colleges could set up a sim with not much cost to it, if it was to educate people and such. Now I hear LL wants to charge them full price for a Sim and in this economic climate... schools don't have a boat load of money.

Xymbers Slade: Greed Knows No Bounds, I suppose.

Seth The Husky: I know Linden Labs wants to make money... I'm ok with it. They are running a business. But when you start to mess with a group of folks that has suffered with them through the rough times. There is a degree of being screwed over real or imagined

Xymbers Slade: The Loyalty Factor. That actually brings up another one of my questions...

Xymbers Slade: Second Life used to have an official Mentor group to help the newbies get their feet wet, made up of unpaid volunteers. A year or so ago, those mentor groups were made "no longer official" and were banned from the starting islands, forcing them to make alts in order to remain on them and help newbies out if they so chose. Now that anyone can tell anyone anything and claim to be anything from "official in-game helpers" to "SL Police" and lure people into a false sense of trust... LL should just bring back the Mentors, right? Easiest solution.

Seth The Husky: Well here is my thought... I carry stuff on me to help new folks... and I do answer questions. I dont mind. The problem we have had lately is the new people that come on here are mostly Alts to be used to troll or grief. It is hard to pick out the true new folks that we need to mentor or the morons that want to be the "look at me" whores that have been around a lot of late. In a way it is partly LL's fault and our own.

Xymbers Slade: Do you think the problem would be remedied with an official group? One with ban powers that could kick the trash off the grid? Abuse Reporting, in my experience, has never really worked. They just come back, it's too easy.

Seth The Husky: Yes.... because if they want to help more people to stay here they neeed to cowboy up.

Xymbers Slade: What keeps you in SL then? Just the social factor of a place like the Korea sims?

Seth The Husky: Fact is.... I like being a dog. I have been through the gambit of human stuff. This is the only game/social network I can be a canine and enjoy it.

Xymbers Slade: Heh. As opposed ot the majority of us who have about 90 avatars and shapeshift as the mood strikes. (smile) [Namely, myself]

Seth The Husky: And no it isn't sexual... it is about no drama. Dogs tend to have less drama and I kinda like that.

Xymbers Slade: True that.

Seth The Husky: I have been on here for over 5 years....I have ran the list....wizard... cowboy.... super hero, you name it

Xymbers Slade: Second Life has been up for 6+ years now. Anything that CAN be done, HAS been done. Or overdone, as the case may be. How can new people wanting to start businesses here cope with the established powers that "rule" the market? Grendel's Children comes to mind. They'd be tough to match or beat.

Seth The Husky: Two rules for that. Do what you love. If you are just doing something for the linden, you will fail. Two, find something someone hasn't done or you want to put your style mark on.

Xymbers Slade: If that second one is possible. SL has been around a long time. Only so many ways a sculpty can be shaped into a horse's muzzle for a horse av, after all.

Xymbers Slade: What do you think could be done to -truly- keep the people in Second Life so they don't bail for say, World of Warcraft or something that's more action and fast paced?

Seth The Husky: The ability to be anything and you are only limited by what you can make or buy. Do you really want to be a cookie cutter elf or your vision of an elf?

Xymbers Slade: Guess I'm cynical. I'm starting to see it as "an elf is an elf is an elf."

Seth The Husky: There are couple Drow I know wuld fill your a** full of arrows for that, eheh.

Xymbers Slade: If I didn't lag so hard, I'd -be- one of those drow, but it's hard for me to slip into a gaming system here... too many to choose from, I think. I have a nice Drow in my inventory I've had for a good two years and haven't done anything with :P

Xymbers Slade: What is the absolute Worst Thing Ever in SL and how can LL fix it? My own opinion is scrap it all and start fresh with a new code base and more modern servers.

Seth The Husky: Letting political campaigns buy sims.

Xymbers Slade: That's... an unusual answer I was not expecting. They did that?

Seth The Husky: Back in 2008 Obama's campaign had a sim.

Xymbers Slade: I expect they got griefed. If not by the opposition, then by kids with nothing better to do.

Seth The Husky: And they had town hall meetings... but they would not like when you said something they didn't support

Xymbers Slade: Voice of the people, but only of the people you like. Not Surprised.

Seth The Husky: The one thing I do like about is the SL TV thing.

Seth The Husky: Doing shows for SL viewers like talk shows and some others. The sports are kind of cool.

Xymbers Slade: I dunno. If I wanted to see a place, I'd teleport there. TV within "TV" (in a loose sense)... seems redundant.

Xymbers Slade: Then again, reality TV. *shudder*

Seth The Husky: Well in my opinion the normal TV shows that do stuff on Secord Life... like CSI Ny... kinda pissed me off because they don't get it and they made us all look like idiots.

Xymbers Slade: And if they don't get it, they're not going to get it. I run into a lot of newbies who are not ignorant, but neither are they the sharpest sword in the scabbard.

Xymbers Slade: What do you think the next step for SL should be in order to stay on top of the market? Especially if "a challenger appears"?

Seth The Husky: They need to take pride in SL again... upgrade the servers and find a way to cut on lag.

Xymbers Slade: So you think they don't care but it's too profitable to let go of.

Seth The Husky: They haven't given a s**t about us in 2 years.

Xymbers Slade: And not just step on the opposition like a 800 pound avatar.

Xymbers Slade: All right, that about wraps up the questions I had written up.

Xymber Slade's Hororscopes, Feb 15 to March 15

Aries (March 21 to April 19)

Upside down Knight of Pentacles (beware of those with gifts), the Tower (A fall from grace or a collapse), and Judgement (End of a storyline, don't fight your situations): Too many things have been set in motion. Let them "collapse" and "end" with their final results before adding more to your plate.

Taurus (April 20 to May 20)

9 of Wands (Walls and barriers), The Sun (new opportunities) and the 5 of Cups (Stuck in the little failures): The walls are dropping, don't let past failures burden your sense of self down so much that you're not able to start new projects. Now's the time to start them.

Gemini (May 21 to June 21)

Upside down 7 of Cups (Yer' dreamin', pal), the upside down Death (squeezing blood from a stone), and the 10 of Swords (Betrayal, "doom"): Big dreams remain that way. Hold off on major moves until mid-March, or better yet, April.

Cancer (June 22 to July 22)

Upside down Queen of Swords (Emotional Trouble), King of Wands (Stubbornness), King of Pentacles (Stability): Differences of opinion mar relationships. The strategy for the moment will be "Let the woman win." A man's strength has passed; their time will come again but not right now.

Leo (July 23 to August 22)

Ace of Pentacles (Material possessions, possible windfall), the upside down 2 of Cups (Burning the olive branch of peace), and a nasty-looking Queen of Swords (Dangerous threat): If you have resources, live off of them rather than relying on others. Former friends are twitchier than usual, so if you've made enemies, they're more dangerous than normal.

Virgo (August 23 to September 22)

10 of Pentacles (People as a whole), the upside down 2 of Pentacles (All is NOT well, such as you've been led to believe), and the upside down 10 of Wands (Overburden): Don't let others get in the way by weighing you down with their problems. They have their fights, you have yours.

Libra (September 23 to October 22)

Upside down 4 of Cups (Apathy), 9 of Cups (All That Glitters...), the upside down Page of Wands (Good intentions hit Murphy's Law): Spend only what you can afford; what once was Shiny turns to Crap sooner than you think.

Scorpio (October 23 to November 21)

3 of Pentacles (Effective Foundations), 4 of Swords (Rest and Relaxation), the Page of Cups (Incoming Emotion or Connection): This is a time to rest on your laurels. What you've built will stand and survive, even if it does look like a house of cards.


Sagittarius (November 22 to December 22)

Upside down 10 of Cups (All Potential Spilled), the King of Pentacles (Show of Wealth, Stability), and the upside down 3 of Pentacles (House of Cards): What looks stable, isn't. Run for the hills, the shows of stability and bravado are without substance and are nothing but sound and fury. Resources are best spent elsewhere, or better yet not at all.

Capricorn (December 22 to January 19)

Upside down 4 of Swords (No time to rest), the Queen of Wands (Strength in business), and the Queen of Pentacles (Strength in finances/material things): No time to rest, keep up the momentum on your projects. There may be some emotional storms, but they're "supposed" to be benign, so focus more on physical/material things for now.

Aquarius (January 20 to Febuary 18)

Upside down Devil (Be Careful What You Wish For, but you're screwed anyway), upside down Page of Swords (Troublemakers, intimidators), upside down 6 of Pentacles (Lies, miscommunication): Incoming! Lies lies and more lies. Trust self, no one else, to get things done.

Pisces (Febuary 19 to March 20)

King of Swords (Someone "Better than you"), a very potent upside down Death (Trying to change the past will only make it worse) and the upside down 5 of Cups (Crying over spilled milk): Trying to bargain with people who know your past and established patterns is only going to make it worse. When you're in a hole, stop digging.

Xymbers Slade

Interview with Lauren Weyland

If you’ve seen some of the standup comedy scene in Second Life, chances are you’ve seen and heard a certain blonde female avatar with a male voice behind it: Lauren Weyland. She appears on the weekly Lauren Live Comedy Show, as well as other performances. Recently, I sat down with her at the location of her show in the Cookie sim, and asked her a few questions about her Second Life and career.

Bixyl Shuftan: So, how did you first find out about Second Life?

Lauren Weyland: Back in Sept 2006 I saw something about Sony in here, so I decided to take a look. I created an avatar, but didn't come in very far. In Dec 2006, I saw IBM was in here and I came in then. Approx. Dec 15th, I was logged on and in, and have been ever since.

Bixyl Shuftan: How did things go in your first days here?

Lauren Weyland: Well .... anyhow, I met some friends at Hobo and wandered around, got pregnant, had a kid. And then the guy who owns this and another sim (pre voice) said, there should be improv in SL. So we met in team speak, Thinkerer Melville, Geo Meek, and me. And I caught them camming up my skirt, and Think said I should do comedy.

And so I have for nearly 4 years. I did the first show ever done in SL voice. Much of my work is about SL. Some of my shows are on treet.tv. Also my web page http://laurenweyland.com with links there. Oops! Updating my bio there too.

Bixyl Shuftan: Well, I can't get around this question, how did your friends react to hearing a male voice when you went up?

Lauren Weyland: Well, that was interesting. Think said as long as I remain in character, it would be, like ... No one thinks of Mickey Mouse as a male falsetto voice, so everyone just hears me as a strong woman.

Lauren then handed me a notecard, “That’s a bit updated, my bio. Still missing much, but such is life.”

Bixyl Shuftan looks over the card, "Religion: Lindenism?" *chuckles*

Lauren Weyland: Yeah, joke. You should listen to my skits on "Hair Removal," The Stance and Pregnant on Treet.TV.

Bixyl Shuftan: (chuckles) I'm sure people will look for those after the interview.

Lauren Weyland: There's not much more to say other then I'm a poor girl trying to make enough Lindens to support my daughter Lula. Some people get a bit upset when they hear me. Most laugh. I remember once when I was doing a show, this guy said to his girlfriend, “I wish that guy would shut up so I can hear the comedian.”

Bixyl Shuftan: (chuckle) And ever since, that line became a reoccurring joke I take it?

Lauren Weyland: Oh, I joke around. Sometimes I say how some guy was hitting on me and I just said, (in voice) "Hi Big Boy" and he shuts up

Bixyl Shuftan: (chuckles)

Lauren Weyland: But I love being Lauren, and the people who have found a laugh in SL. My show is where audience has their voices on. So we are all talking, rowdy, noisy etc. Nothing else like it. Musicians turn off voice, plays turn off voice. Here people come, relax, laugh, talk.

Bixyl Shuftan: Yes, I've heard a couple comments, seeing the voice and avatar as part of the comic act.

Lauren Weyland: Yes, I think of lag in SL like having menstrual cramps.

Bixyl Shuftan: What time can people see you during the week?

Lauren Weyland: Tuesday With Lauren 5pm, and usually after we have a music gig at 6pm ... other than that are booked shows.

Bixyl Shuftan: I see you're also in a number of benefits.

Lauren Weyland: i've done many of them, yes. Also just finished a voice over for an original play in Gor.

Bixyl Shuftan: A play in Gor?

Lauren Weyland: And another play, I did male voices for that. Finally I'm in something big. A group of writers, producers, etc have gotten together and created a new show called “Be My Guest” with TerryLynn Melody as the host. I'm the hairdresser in the opening of each episode in the green room. They are doing mixed media. SL and real life, musicians are show in both, sound engineers etc., and I'm the comedy. They are official with Rezzed TV.

Bixyl Shuftan: How has the show gone so far?

Lauren Weyland: Fantastic. I'm just this first 5 minute opening scene. Phaylen Fairchild is one of the writers and she help direct me in my part. It will be out in March, first the plot, then nine more episode. And the hope to make the web love the show, since it won't be SL centric. Also Chantal Harvey is involved, Flimsey Freenote.

Bixyl Shuftan: Oh really? That's interesting.

Lauren Weyland: Oh yes, a large group involved. I don't know all the stuff but Flimsey has the promo done. You should contact her. Musicians include erryLynn Melody, Hazideon Zarco, Phil Johnson, Frogg and Jaycatt. ...I've also performed live at last two SLCC in SanFrancisco and Boston. ... Anyhow, I enjoy my life here, and in first life

Bixyl Shuftan: Do any of your first life friends know what you do here?

Lauren Weyland: Everyone knows what I do here, my kids etc. If you try to hide your life it sneaks up and scares you. No one knows everything about anyone.

When guys make fun of my voice, I just tell them, “If I looked like this in firstlife you'd just tell me to be quiet.”

Bixyl Shuftan: (chuckle) Do you have any advice for those interested in getting into standup comedy, or interested in hosting a standup event.

Lauren Weyland: Yes, take the time to think about your comedy. You don't need to use a lot of four letter words to be funny. And just keep plugging along. If you make one person laugh you are a success. Thought there are a lot of four letter words I like: girl, boat, trip, sex.

Following the interview, Lauren took me to the set of “Be My Guest,” where Flimsey Freenote had just finished some filming. “ ‘Be My Guest’ is a half hour variety show,” Flimsey told me, “A celebration of music, comedy, and artistry from a virtual world that spans multiple realities. It brings together the best of independent music, comedy, dance, and filmmaking. Using virtual worlds for collaboration and performance, the show also weaves in live events and performance in a variety of brick and mortar communities.”

Lauren can be seen on Second Life at "Lauren's Place" on Cookie Island, (129, 177, 21), Tuesdays at 5PM, “a lively, open comedic conversation. No tipping. Just fun and laughter.” Her shows can also be seen on Treet.TV, as well as a once a month live broadcast.

Bixyl Shuftan