Longcat was long in Second Life

Well, virtual worlds have not changed, but so-called Real Life has. In fact Real Life has become a virtual world – not The Spectacle, as foretold by Guy Debord, nor a simulacrum, as Baurdrillard imagined – but a straight-up video game.

All the trolls and memes and griefers and the whatthefuckedupedness of Second Life have spilled out into so-called Real Life and turned the 2016 election season into an endless parade of fort longcats. Pepe has replaced Pool’s Closed, and weev has replaced Grimmy Moonflower, but these changes are cosmetic.

Pepe comes to real life

We could have sat this one out, but that would be irresponsible to our loyal readers and jealous haters. They *could* make some popcorn and pull up a lawn chair and watch as the Bowsers of American politics sling poo at each other, but without the Herald’s thoughtful analysis, the popcorn would not be as tasty, the lawn chair not as comfortable, and the poo slinging would appear less artful.

No, you need the Herald to help you through this, and we aim to deliver. We are here for you. Because we care. And remember: The Ban Hammer (tm) now works in Real Life too, so be careful, because it can come down on you “for any reason or no reason.”  Meanwhile, stay tuned.

Herald founder Urizenus Sklar and managing editrix Pixeleen Mistral invite our readers to join us as we celebrate the power of the virtual press to enlighten, inform, entertain, influence policy, and provide a convenient earth-friendly wrapper for piscine foodstuffs in transit.

The festivities are scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM SLT / 8:30 PM CDT / 9:30 PM EDT on Thursday October 6th with a traditional contest -  wrapping pixelated fish in a discarded Herald newspaper.

The winner will be awarded a plywood cube. 

While wrapping fish is normally the highlight of Herald parties, a surprising development will allow Herald readers to judge Rodvik Linden building skills and political leanings for themselves. Is Rodvik Linden's gift pony a sign of anti-vigilante sympathies?

Rodvik send the Herald a ponie

Look for a diverse crowd of party people as SLebrities, virtual world students, and obvious alt accounts visit scenic Shivar sim http://slurl.com/secondlife/Shivar/191/161/44 to dance the night away.

A warning to the Justice League? The official Pink Hands beret matches Rodvik Linden's gift pony 

Will Linden staff don celebratory mesh hair nets at the Second Life Community Conference to mark the long awaited release of mesh object support for the prim-based virtual world? SL content creators and certain OEM suppliers hope so, and the chances of sighting Linden staff with a food-service worker look should not be discounted - previous concerns over mussing Philip Linden's stylish locks were pushed aside with the ascent of new CEO Rodvik Linden. We can only hope there will be enough mesh to go around during the SLCC August 13-14.

Mesh hair net - the perfect real life fashion accessory for Lindens?

This year, Herald staff will be on hand to cover SLCC in person - a development sure to delight the Feted Inner Core, techno-communist sympathizers and running dogs, spandex clad Second Life militias, perma-banned mafia leaders, and russian-speaking land rental agents everywhere. But staying true to the Herald's immersive new media aesthetic, simply covering the conference is not enough.

Herald editrix Pixeleen Mistral has assigned her real life typist to speak at a session certain to be a highlight of the conference - Avatar Identity: Privacy and Transparency in Social Media chaired by Hiro Pendragon. The session description:

Anonymous participation in social web, both 2-D and 3-D, has long been a point of debate. Recently avatar identity, especially used as pseudonyms in social media sites, has been a hot button issue with the rise of Google Plus and with ongoing enforcement on Facebook. How do we balance between security and protection from fraud or harassment, and keeping user privacy and letting users expose only the parts of their identity that they choose to share?

Fueled by dueling coffee breaks sponsored by the Amaretto Ranch and Ozimals virtual pet empires, those attending the SLCC should assure themselves of an adequate supply of hair nets as gifts to Linden staff. Keep in mind that furry Linden's will need several hair nets to meet minimum requirements of the health code - so do what you can to help out. It is always wise to placate the game gods. 

Perhaps the Lab will adopt a more Humble tone after the unpopular changes and unfulfilled promises made at last year's SLCC.

Lalabel Demina -- CEO Evenementia

Principe : Réunir en un lieu, le temps d'une semaine, un maximum de structures d'entraide irl ou sl (associations ou autre) qui sont installés sur SecondLife. Ces structures peuvent être française ou étrangère.

Chacune de ces structures auront le droit à un stand d'exposition de 60 prims pour y déposer des informations relatives à leur "activité" d'entraide. Evidement aucune vente n'est acceptée.

Durant la totalité de l'évènement, des animations seront proposées ainsi que des créneaux pour que ceux qui le souhaitent puissent présenter leur structure, en voice, stream ou écrit. Nous disposons d'un stream et d'un relais radio qui sera présent pendant la manifestation, vous n'avez donc pas besoin de vous munir d'un stream, nous vous fournirons toutes les données pour que vous puissiez l'utiliser. La publicité de l'évènement ainsi que sa gestion sont assurés in Game et en réel par nos soins.

Date de la manifestation : Du lundi 30 mai au 05 juin Installation à partir du 26 mai.

Lieu : France 3d Sentu Novio

N'hésitez pas à prendre contact avec nous pour réserver votre stand gratuitement.
Lalabel Demina : CEO Evenementia
Stanislas Pastorelli : CEO Evenementia
Eluna Baramm : Responsable de l'évènement « Salon de l'entraide »

Vous devez aussi remplir une notecard nommé Salon entraide – name SL
Dans la notecard indiquez :
Nom de l'avatar ( ou des avatars )
Nom de la société / associations / structures / groupe ....
Description succinte de votre « projet »
Y rajouter votre logo en full perm et indiquez plusieurs choix de créneaux concernant vos interventions si vous en souhaitez un ( nous vous indiquerons alors des disponibilités).

This Sunday, January 9, at 11:00am SLT, Post 6 will host a “Welcome to 2011” party at Sinister’s Club in Idia. Slurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Idia/119/41/111/

Senban Babii dances to DJ Someone Sinister

Post 6, the longtime Alphaville Herald feature, has hosted two parties previously, both were very well attended by gorgeous Post 6 Models, loyal Herald readers, and the famous and infamous “SLebrities” of the grid.

This third party will be held at a great club, Sinister’s, owned by the renowned builder, scripter and all-around great guy Someone Sinister. The club has a gothic feel, and the Post 6 Party Location Scouting Team, seen in the pictures that accompany this story, gave the location two thumbs up.

This event is open to the public, but in the past the sim has filled quickly for these events, so be sure to get there early. Again, the party will be on Sunday, January 9 from 11:00am to 2:00pm SLT.

Party Scouting Group: Patrice Cournoyer, Jenna Thurston, Nuts Bakalava

Party Scouting Group: Patrice Cournoyer, Mairead McConnell, Jenna Thurston, Nuts Bakalava, Senban Babii

Mairead McConnell and Jenna Thurston prepare to party

Someone Sinister rockin’ the 1s and 2s

Since the Alphaville Herald’s inception in 2003, we have covered the news of online worlds and societies like no one else. You’ve enjoyed tales of griefers, scammers, virtual mafias, virtual paramilitary organizations, epic trolls, perverts, furries, babyfurs, baby unicorns, goreans, elves, online Nazis, anti-Nazis, virtual communists, dirty dealing virtual politicians, tales of favoritism, corruption, betrayal,  lots of Post Six Grrrls, and a few Post Six Guys. Through it all, one principle has remained constant: in the hall of mirrors that is the Interwebs we may never know the truth. That, and don’t drink that Moet crap.

We have watched several virtual worlds grow and then die over the last seven years, including The Sims Online, Lively, and Metaplace. We are now watching Second Life’s death spasms. We have come to realize the story was never about branded virtual real estate, but rather about the people who move like nomadic tribes, migrating across virtual worlds, the broader Net, and even the so-called real world.

Accordingly, we have not stayed confined to a branded space and have followed our subjects and audience – even into the real world – and reported accordingly. Crucially, in reporting those real world events like WikiLeaks and hacktivist actions, we have discovered we never left the hall of mirrors we navigated over the last seven years with the Herald.

Sometime we ask why traditional reporting suxxors soooo bad. Perhaps the answer is they simply can’t operate in a world of smoke and mirrors, where everyone is acting “in avatar” and true agendas are unknown. We may have not mastered the hall of mirrors, but we have lived here and find our calling is to extend the Herald’s charge beyond branded worlds to also encompass the world writ large. We like navigating in the shadowy world of hackers and spooks and Anonymous. This is where we are at home reporting. Who knows, perhaps we can even save civilization in the process.

Future of Metaverse be decided around a hookah on Queen Mary?

The decks of the Queen Mary will echo at the end of July with the sound of open source techno-communists in jackboots, academics in clogs, birkenstock and flip-flop clad developers, and more than a few virtual world entrepreneurs sporting the sort of butter soft handmade Italian footwear favored by the most influential of the inner core when the Metaverse Meetup kicks off next weekend — a meta meeting to party like ProkStars while plotting the next stage in the evolution of immersive new media for Open Sim, Second Life, Blue Mars, and other virtual worlds.

Look for a diverse group of players, practitioners, and researchers from the likes of Inteligencia LLC, Woodbury University, Duke University, Motion Cafe, Project Neuro along with a host others to chart the course for the Second Life diaspora.

The Alphaville Herald will be on hand with the kind of engaged analysis and informed opinion only found in these pages, as we temporarily relocate the Herald newsroom to a deluxe stateroom aboard the Queen Mary – and you can join in the fun!  Special room rates are available through Monday, see this ning page for details.

While in LA, I’m hoping for an in-person interview with the Justice League Unlimited’s Kalel Venkman to discuss the fine points of the copyright fair use doctrine and the drawbacks to filing frivolous DMCA takedown notices. Kalel – if could stop by the Queen Mary you can both keep an eye on Woodbury crew and make good on that interview your promised me.

See you next weekend !

In a press release today, Pixeleen Mistral and Urizenus Sklar announced Defne Demar has joined the Herald staff. Ms. Demar ended minutes of speculation by admitting her real life typist is none other than Burcu S. Bakioglu – a noted new media scholar who authored Spectacular Interventions of Second Life: Goon Culture, Griefing, and Disruption in Virtual Spaces. Ms. Demar will be covering the griefer and mafia beat for the Herald, providing the sort of immersed, informed, and engaged meta-game analysis that can only be found on these pages.

Defne Demar joins Pixeleen Mistral at Herald HQ in Jessie sim

Ms. Demar was initially recruited by Herald founder Urizenus Sklar, who recently has taken up involuntary semi-permanent residence in Amsterdam. When reached for comment, Urizenus said "none of that Moët crap was involved in the negotiations – that’s not how the Herald rolls – now wtf is up with all this volcanic ash, anyway?" 

Meanwhile, Herald managing editrix Pixeleen Mistral took a break from a secretive round of sea trials with the new Herald yacht to meet with Demar at the Herald offices in Jessie sim and welcome her to the paper. The pair were later seen sipping sake somewhere near downtown Durham discussing how to explain the real story behind tuesday’s mass ban of the Woodbury faction.

Burcu at her first Herald staff meeting

tools of the trade: Herald reporter’s laptop with SL sticker

The Herald has joined http://theartistsvoice.org/ in an almost entirely symbolic SL content creator sympathy strike November 4th and 5th and 6th.  While taking a break in tracking the transition of Second Life into Suit Life, we will look into the Metaplace fashion, party, and e-dating scene.

Naked Post 6 avatars, class action trademark and copyright legal battles, flaws in SL's digital rights management system, and the Lab's amazing perpetual drama pump coverage will resume this weekend – unless we get lost in Metaplace.

The metaverse glitterati will be out in force – and at a euro-friendly time – during the second open-to-the-public Post 6 reunion bash – so brace yourselves for the party this Saturday, October10, from 11am to 3pm SLT.  Post 6 alum SammyBarrett will DJ and the festivities will be held on the kitchen table at the fantastic GreeniesHome, Rezzable. SLurl on over and joing the fun here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Greenies%20Home%20Rezzable/74/159/55

post 6 party advance team prepares the party site

Post6 has been an institution in Second Life since 2005 when it was startedby Photographer Marilyn Murphy – and has featured hundreds of sexyavatars over the years.  The October 10th Party at Rezzable is afollow-up to a party earlier this year, described in the Herald societypages.

“Themore I work with and meet the people in the Post 6 Group, the more I'mimpressed,” said current Post 6 photographer Timothy Morpork. “Thefirst party was a lot of fun, it was great to meet so many of themodels from the past and a bunch of the regular readers.”

Theevent is open to all, but with strong demand for Post 6 models all overthe grid for various functions, bringing them all together in one placewill be an event you’ll want to hit early and often.

ready to party?