MOLEWATCH
by Marianne McCann
September 2017
No news to present on the moles this month, with the LDPW tied up elsewhere on the grid (and beyond). We've been promised more news soon as there is any to present publicly!THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
It was September 2005 that Linden Lab reported that the Second Life economy generated US$3,596,674 in economic activity: a sizable amount of money for what was then still a very young virtual world. by the next September, Second Life was reported to have a Gross Domestic Product of US$60,000,000. By the next month, Second Life entered its most prominent era.
Even today, more than a decade later, Second Life is still turning a profit, and still bringing in money for virtual entrepreneurs.
August 2017
EGGS CRACKING UP
Mysterious eggs that were available at the SL14B kiosk in Hairy Hippo Fun Land have recently begun to crack... jokes. Residents who have the eggs rezzed out throughout the city have reported bad jokes emanating from their eggs.
None of the eggs seem to be ready to hatch, which is not surprising, given the immaturity of the humor.
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
In August of 2009, former Vice Product of Product T Linden (Tom Hale) presented a tour of the Second Life 2.0 Viewer. The viewer, designed to be a simpler interface to aid new users to Second Life, was largely panned.
The 2.0 interface remains at the heart of the Official Viewer today, though much was reworked after frustrated Second Life fans abandoned the viewer for third party viewers, and complained on the Second Life JIRA and elsewhere about features and bugs.
July 2017
Not much to report again this month, with moles deployed elsewhere, and my own maladies getting in the way. Stay tuned!THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
July 26, 2007 - Linden Lab announced a ban on in-world gambling. For years before this, gambling was an accepted part of Second Life, with no less than Philip Linden himself making some of the earliest slot machines inworld. Nevertheless, regulations on online gambling forced Linden lab's hand.
Protests sprung up immediately, most notably at the Pooley stage, where scores of gaming machines were deployed and angry casino owners held up signs and banners against the policy change.
The policy has since evolved, with skill gaming being allowed once again in selected areas and with carefully-regulated machines.
June 2017
*Editor's Note: Our Ace Reporter and Bay City's own (not the) Mayori, Marianne McCann, is in the middle of a RL move at the moment, and so there will be no Molewatch this month. However, in its place, we offer up this fine (Science!) video from the New York Times, entitled "Moles On the Move". Enjoy!Here, but not here
Mole have been very busy lately, working on a number of projects. Unfortunately, none of those happen to be in Bay City. Hence, I don't have a lot to report here.One may hope this will change soon.
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
In May of 2009, Second Life was seeing a monthly concurrency of 62,000 users in average. While not the high water mark, it was certainly respectable.One year later, however, that number dropped heavily, with concurrent users averaging at 54,000.
What led to this change?
On the 21st of May, 2009, a policy was put into place barring the use of 'bots and "camping" to artificially inflate traffic on inworld parcels. According to Tateru Nino, some 15,000 active 'bot accounts were turned off in this time, in reaction to policies that made them less viable.
Today, in 2017, we still see 'bots used in some locations to artificially inflate use, but those are fewer and far between.
It's... It's... GREEN!
As has become tradition in Bay City, the Moles ran a batch of dye through the pipes in the water filtration plant, turning Daley Bay a lovely emerald green for St. Patrick's Day. It is widely believed that the dye is probably at least 65.9% non-toxic!
The dye has dissipated at this point, returning the water to it's usual
Our mega thanks to Shaman Linden for making this possible this year.
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
Often forgotten in Second Life history is that the initial "open beta" of Second Life started in April 2003. I say forgotten, as most point to the joining of the first Resident in March 2002 or the release of Second Life in June 2003 rather than the equally important open beta period.
With Sansar starting into open beta soon, consider where we might be without those early Second Life beta testers.
Above is a map of Second Life during the time of the open beta. The grid had already expanded from its first 16 regions, though not by a whole lot. This was during a brief period of time when new users would rez in in the Ritch region, rather than Natoma (the original new user area) or Ahern (which remained the main welcome area and infohub for much of Second Life's early years)
You won't find many of the landmarks mentioned on this map. The Alphitheater is long gone from Clara, the Atlas Disco (built by Philip Linden himself) and Loop Shack have been out of DaBoom for more than a decade, and the Superstore left Zoe ages and ages ago. Likewise, Outlands Tower is lost to history, as is any trace of the Ritch start area (though you'll find an event calendar that was likely from that era in the basement of the Governor's mansion in Clementina).
If you hunt around Pygar Bu's land in Varney you may find an artifact or two from the days when his land was the Varney Boardwalk, however. Also, much of the boardwalk was resurrected by yours truly and used by the Moles for our own Hairy Hippo Fun Land.
You'll also find parts of the Avatar Central as seen in Natoma, rebuilt in Aqua, while the Stillman Free Bazaar exists to this day. Wild West Town, too, lives on, but in Oak Bluffs instead of Zoe. Much of it was rebuilt by the Moles after the original structures were lost in content loss accidents in the early 2000s.
One more thing: You'll find, to this day, a display of each of the Beta Test avatar names in the Plum region. A tribute to those early virtual world pioneers.
MICHAEL LINDEN LEAVES THE LAB
At the Bay City Alliance first meeting of February, Sylvan Mole, joined by Squishy Mole and Shaman Linden, confirmed rumors that Michael Linden was no longer part of Linden Lab staff. Michael, a staff member for 13+ years, had started as a liaison, then a governance staff member, before settling into his most well-known job as the head of the Linden Department of Public Works, aka the Moles.
Sylvan assured the crowd that the Mole program is continuing even without Michael, as others in the department presumably take on new or altered roles with the LDPW to fill the huge gap left by Michael. Work projects in Bay City will also continue, though (as has become typical) with some delays due to higher priority works such as PaleoQuest and Horizons.
Michael will be missed in Bay City. He, along with the former Blue Linden, shaped this city from its foundations, and he was a quiet but effective steward of Bay City mole projects for years. His fez will be a hard one to fill.
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
I've mentioned it before, but March marks the "real" birthday of Second Life, with the 13th of March, 2002, being the day Second Life's first resident, Steller Sunshine, walked into the original sixteen regions of LindenWorld, the precursor of Second Life. You can still find items created by Sunshine inworld, and these are amongst the oldest items to be found in Second Life -- and some of the first not made by Linden staff members.
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A Working Bay
It's February, and while the Moles work diligently at pursuits l'amour for the grid, Bay City is not without a little minor work.
Shipping is active in the Bay, as boats continue to shift in and out of our industrial park. There's some beautiful boats in dock right now. Check it out and tour 'em.
Also, the fairgrounds have thawed, just in time for this year's Mole Day celebrations!
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
While Bay City's anniversary is in May, around the time the regions were first opened to the public, it was on 22 February, 2008 that the public first heard of our city. It was then, in a blog post, that Blue Linden first announced the city, building interest leading up to opening and the subsequent auctions.Nine years later, and we're still going strong!
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A Curious Spit
I'm simply salivating to know more about a spit of land that is now paved and shored up in Grub Beach. It looks like a new docking area for ships and rail.
I hope that we'll soon see more of this, and more around the area Here's to Mole progress in 2017!
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THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
In January of 2007, the Second Life client was open-sourced, and residents were invited into the Architecture Working Group to aid in the development of same.
Thanks to this work, which was started in 2007, we've seen the rise of third party viewers, and further innovation for the Second Life client both official and otherwise.
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MERRY PRIMSMAS
While not specifically, Moleish, it is worth noting here the increase in Land Impact that the Lab graced us with in November, with our city being the recipient of yet more available land impact thanks to the double-primmed nature of our land. Nothing like seeing a 1024m parcel support over 700 LI!
NEW HORIZONS
The Horizons project, a combination experience game/city mainland project opened above Zindra this month, with a number of innovative features to support their Residents. In addition to their own double-primmed land, they have a selection of possible homes they can use on their land *without it adding to their land impact.* I'll admit a tinge of jealousy at this, as well as a number of infrastructure additions aimed at building a "Bay City-like" community in Horizons. The City by the Bay might want some new geegaws, too!
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
While it actually took place in January or so, December 2014 saw the announcement of a massive snowball fight between the Lindens and Residents, an annual tradition that had been mothballed during the Rodvik Linden (aka Rod Humble) era. Taking place in the mole build Winter Wonderland regions, the venue was a step up from the hastily assembled events of the past.
Bay City did well in 2014's battle, but it was December 2015 that we de facto "won" the event. securing" the castle and fighting off the Lindens. Will we see the same in 2016?
Spookytime
As in past years, the moles have assisted with our annual Hallowe'en hay maze. You'll see a gloomy look to the skies in North Channel and Barcola Sound - and while the moles have dyed the water green in Daley Bay for St. Paddy's, the green look to the water in the fairgrounds is decidedly unhealthy looking!Boat Traffic in Daley Bay
Michael Linden, as part of the Bay City Port Authority, has handled boat traffic in our bay, including the new addition of the Fulton Steamer along the Inner Channel dock. Thank you, Michael, for keeping the bay looking fresh!THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
It was November of 2002, A bit more than a year and change after Linden Lab shifted gears from a Haptics research company and focused on virtual worlds, that their first major product, now named "Second Life," opened its first sixteen regions as part of its beta. Those regions were Clara, Clyde, Da Boom, Federal, Freelon, Hawthorne, Minna, Natoma, Ritch, Shipley, Stanford, Stillman, Taber, Varney, Welsh, and Zoe.It is a common belief that Da Boom was the first region in Second Life, which isn't exactly true: all sixteen came up around the same time, and there were "regions" - whose names are presumably lost to time - dating back to the pre-Second Life "LindenWorld" era. Still, Da Boom resides at the grid coordinates of 0,0 and is perfectly able to claim that title. It is worth noting, however, that the first Welcome Area was in Natoma, not Da Boom, meaning that the former is more likely to have been the first place most avatars visited.
Also, much like the name of Linden Lab, named by its Linden Avenue location back in those early years, all of the first 16 regions were named for streets and alleyways in the South of Market area of San Francisco. Additional "San Francisco" regions were added later, as well as ones named after colors, after early investors : Smith, Kapor, and of course Rosedale for the first CEO of Linden Lab, Philip Rosedale (aka Philip Linden).
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MOLES GO UNDERGROUND
Not much to report this month, as the moles continue to work
hard on an upcoming big sekrit project.
Everyone is tight-lipped on it, and aside from a few teaser images on
Patch Linden's feeds page, nothing is known.
One may hope for more next month!
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THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
On September 19th, 2010, Second Life shuttered "Avatars
United," a social media website for avatars purchased by former Linden Lab
CEO M Linden.
Originally created by a group of real-life friends for
networking avatars from multiple worlds, Linden Lab purchased it in January of
2010 as a way for Second Life uses to have a Facebook-like experience (without
the difficulty of Facebook closing their accounts). The day the purchase was
announced Avatars United crashed, overwhelmed by new users from Second Life and
leading to its ridicule.
The core functionality of Avatars United was eventually
integrated into the Second Life feeds, providing the backbone for the current
web profiles. Unfortunately, technical issues continue to plague the system,
and useful functional like the web-based group pages of Avatars United were
never continued within the feeds.
Related: Three years later, in September 2013, Linden Lab
announced SLShare with allowed status updates on Facebook from within the
viewer. This was further expanded to include Twitter.
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September 2016__________________________________________
Riding home at Sunset, I noticed a strange billboard I hadn't noticed before, across from the old, abandoned hotel in Falmouth.
Looks like it was damaged in a recent rainstorm or griefer attack, and I could not make it all out. Maybe some housing development, or something else? No idea.
I spotted a couple other similar billboards near our infohubs, too. One in Moose Beach and another in Hau Koda outside the airport.
It's not clear what the moles are hiding and or showing us with these billboards, but I suspect we'll see something new on the horizon before too much longer!
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
It was the 25th of September, 2003, when Governor Linden decreed that an amusement park be built in Second Life. While not the first such place in this world (that honor belongs to the Varney Boardwalk, who's planks and light fixtures were reused for Bay City's own Hairy Hippo Fun land), it was an early example of a collaborative project that teams 38 Second Life residents together to purchase a parcel and create in the regions of Luna and Coney.
People were limited to just 400 land impact ("prims") per build, but if there's was especially popular, they'd earn"dwell," or Linden Dollars based on the traffic their parcels gained.
The Park was named "Linden World," a nod to the original name for Second Life, and boasted amusement from some of SL's earliest and best designers. The park was short-lived, though, with Coney sinking beneath the waves while Luna was chosen to become the Luna Oaks shopping area that still exists today, east of Bay City in Nova Albion.
Some of the attractions still exist inworld, if you know where to look. Some of the games that lived at LindenWorld can now be found near the Stillman Free Bazaar, while Sinatra Cartier's Spook House can be seen advertised in Noyo, not far from Abbott's Airfield and the Lost Forest of Kahruvel.
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August 2016
Down by the Seaside
Upgrades have been completed on New Port, with several new boat moorings and a few new seaplane moorings coming to the area. This vastly increases the capacity at New Port, providing spaces for flyboys and girls as well as plenty of local boaters.
Additionally, mooring buoys that were lost A couple years back in a physics attack in the area are renewed.
Thanks to Linden Lab for providing the space and upgrades!
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
In August of 2007 Ginko Financial, an inworld banking institution claiming L$200,000,000 (or roughly US$750,000 at the time) in assets, faced a bank run. The run was triggered by the 26th July, 2007 ban on inworld gambling. The run caused Ginko - and unregulated entity with an unknown owner that claimed a greater than 40% return on investments -- to declare insolvency.
Within a week, Linden Lab stepped in, saying "Linden Lab does not intend to recreate or subvert real-world laws in any way. We caution our residents to be wary of anyone offering extremely high interest rates at no risk, either in the real world or in Second Life -- if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
Virtual banks that deal in L$ are now disallowed in Second Life®, and there are strict regulations on the purchase of L$, presumably due to state and federal law.
Oh, and yes, your friendly writer lost about L$17,000 in the process, too.
July 2016
HANG UP AT THE HANGAR
For some time, a Fokker tri-motor has been parked in the hangar at the Bay City Municipal Airport, awaiting repairs. This is, of course, the purpose of the hangar, but as repair work on this bird dragged on, pilots begun to view the Fokker as a blocker. It's presence kept people from going from the hangar-side rez zone to the taxiway. Many simply took to the taxiway rez zone, but the ease of hangar rezzing was missed.
Good news, though, as none other than Michael Linden completed the repairs and saw the Fokker moved to a space along the taxiway, out of the way of rezzing and flying, and replacing a much more modern craft. We can rez the old-fashioned way once more!
SOFT AS A SEA BREEZE
As reported last month, New Port is now refreshed, with a new round of boaters taking to their slips and moorings mid-June. The place has an air of vibrancy that has been lacking for some time, and now seems a marina befitting our fair city.
The area is still developing, and additional slips and moorings may be coming in the not-too-distant future.
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
Beginning on the 29th of June and running through most of July 2009, a simple support ticket could initiate the process of relocating ones adult-orientated parcel to the Zindra continent. The land, originally named "Ursula" when it first came online, was themed as a sustainable future themed continent containing a double-primmed area called "Kama City," modeled in the wake of Linden Lab's Bay City and Nautilus City -- and earlier Nova Albion -- projects.
Of course, the theme became quickly secondary as the continent became home to Second Life's adult content and the migration thereof in July of 2009. Today, the theme is largely forgotten.
June 2016
A NEW NEW PORT
Recently, Bay City Residents and New Port Harbormasters Uccie Poultry-Seale and Marianne McCann met with a member of Linden Lab's land team. The topic of the day was the New Port Yacht Club.
New Port has always been an interesting spot. A number of slips and moorings were created there, initially to be handled by Linden Lab in a fashion similar to the lottery parcels at Busy Ben's in the Oak Grove region bordering the vehicle sandbox, or the Luna Oaks Galleria in the Luna region. As things developed, the notion to make these slips a place for boats to be sold become the goal.
Unfortunately, there were many problems with this system. Most notably that nearly everyone who was awarded a slip had no interest in selling boats, or really any clear idea of what to do with their slip. Many built skyboxes or even houses, or simply rezzed purchased vehicles which they never used.
In 2010, Harbormasters Alx Zeiler and Marianne McCann approached Bay City's then Community Liaison, Blondin Linden, about offering these slips to Bay City and other Residents. The slips filled up quickly, leading to a lengthy waiting list. While this finally did see the area grow for a while, as both Bay City residents and others used the area, the inability to clear out those who let their slips and moorings fall into disuse has again caused the area to fall somewhat static.
With this most recent meeting, a plan has been launched to focus the slips and moorings on Bay City usage, as well as put a process in place to allow for the periodic refreshing of the slips. Additionally, Linden Lab is going to look into an increased number of slips, which will mean that potentially more Bay City Residents will have a place to put their watercraft.
More as this develops, but it's an exciting part of our city's future.
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
In June of 2010, Linden Lab laid off roughly 30% of their staff, with deep cuts affecting much of the Second Life workforce. This restructuring particularly hit hard in its offices outside San Francisco, leading to the end of the Brighton UK and Singapore offices, and significant reductions in their Seattle, Washington office. It also led to the end of their Enterprise Second Life product. WIthin days of the layoff announcement, Linden Lab CEO M Linden was also let go by Linden Lab.
Six years later, the company is now on it's third CEO since the 2010 layoffs, and its workforce is stable. Second Life remains and Project Sansar is around the corner.
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May 2016
Poltergeist attack at Falmouth Hotel!
Large chunks of the Falmouth Hotel were demolished in mid April, leading many paranormal researchers to assume it was at attack by capricious evil spirits, possibly poltergeists.
Michael Linden of the Linden Department of Works apparently sought to calm those fears, declaring that the whole incident was an accident.
To paraphrase Mr. Linden. he was working on issues around ownership of some of his vast landholdings, when something went wrong with the Falmouth region, causing a massive return of content and requiring the Lab to "roll back" the area.
By daybreak, the land was back to it's usual decrepit and overgrown state. We can only hope that it remains so in the future, and that the spirits are appeased for now.
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
On the 1st of May, 2006, Anshe Chung's Second Life® avatar was featured on the cover of Business World magazine. The story within declared that she was the first person to become a first life millionaire from her Second Life earnings in land sales and other activities.
This article helped fuel the beginning of Second Life's initial "boom," leading ot millions of members of growth from 2006 to 2008 or so.
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April 2016
IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN
Once again, the kind moles at the water filtration plant in Daley Bay treated the city to green dyed water thanks to their sekrit coloration formula. The green tones lasted about a week, to correspond to St. Patrick's Day. Thanks again to the LDPW for adding a bit of the Emerald Isle to our waterways!
Reaching a dead end
Michael Linden was recently spotted in Bay City - Sandwich, apparently test fitting some end of road barriers on the north edge of the region. Could be be experimenting with proper "end of road" markings along our edges? Time will tell!
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
ON the 24th of April, 2009, Linden Lab took action against traffic and camping"bot" accounts - avatars that did not have a human operator, but were semi-autonomous, limited computer AIs .
"Bots" were routinely used to inflate traffic number on parcels, often being parked on dance floors or in featureless skyboxes, in order to increase the apparent traffic of a parcel or business.
You will still find "bots" today, though mostly as store models, NPCs in role-play regions, or as the friendly "Archie" bot that welcomes people at The Arcade. Another, "Hal Titanium" wanders around the grid, looking for people to talk to.
Yes, you will still also find the TOS-violating versions out there too, but a lot fewer than prior to the ban. _________________________________________________________________________
THE POOL, AND WHAT'S AHEAD
March, 2016
As reported on last month, the Crystal Blue Pool that straddles the border between Bay City - Barnstable and Bay City - Dennis is complete, with a few additional touches here and there courtesy of Garden Mole and Michael Linden. Beautiful and fun work!
The completion of the pool has led others to ask what is next for the Moles in our fine city.
There are two currently outstanding project: Portage Bay and Owens Beach. Both are long-delayed, but not forgotten projects that date from the merger of the teen grid copy with the existing Main Grid version of Bay City
Portage Bay is some 75% complete and living in a "sekrit" location used by the moles for building. It has been long delayed, largely as mole hours get dedicated to other projects such as the various holiday builds and other large-scale projects like Paleo Quest. The Portage Bay overlay is largely to turn the duplicate of New Port Yacht Club into something new and different, with a "working fishing dock" look and feel (think "Cannery Row").
Owens Beach is a long stalled project that I'm not sure will remain as was intended. In this, the area of the Owens Beach region would become a prim refinery, processing pure prim from the mine located in the region (this part of the build is pretty much complete). This would also allow for some expansion of Kittehwerks in Inner Harbor as well, as the delivery point for all those mined prims.
There is no ETA on either project, though it is likely that we'll see the Portage Bay build something in 2016.
Beyond this, there are still other duplicates to be edited, and other changes over time to Bay City. Also, Michael Linden keeps threatening a ferry boat. More on that another time!
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
On the 14th of March, 2008, Linden Lab founder Philip Rosedale (aka Philip Linden) announce he was stepping down from the CEO position to become chairman of their Board of Directors. Two months later, Mark Kingdon (M Linden) took the hot seat, followed by the return of Philip Rosedale for roughly four months beginning in June 2010 -- during a massive layoff at the Lab -- followed briefly by Bob Komin (BK Linden) taking the reigns in October of that year -- and Rodvik Humble (Rodvik Linden) following up in that position starting in January 2011.
The current CEO, Ebbe Altman (Ebbe Linden) took the helm in 2014 and has served in that position since.
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February 2016
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January 2016
March, 2016
As reported on last month, the Crystal Blue Pool that straddles the border between Bay City - Barnstable and Bay City - Dennis is complete, with a few additional touches here and there courtesy of Garden Mole and Michael Linden. Beautiful and fun work!
The completion of the pool has led others to ask what is next for the Moles in our fine city.
There are two currently outstanding project: Portage Bay and Owens Beach. Both are long-delayed, but not forgotten projects that date from the merger of the teen grid copy with the existing Main Grid version of Bay City
Portage Bay is some 75% complete and living in a "sekrit" location used by the moles for building. It has been long delayed, largely as mole hours get dedicated to other projects such as the various holiday builds and other large-scale projects like Paleo Quest. The Portage Bay overlay is largely to turn the duplicate of New Port Yacht Club into something new and different, with a "working fishing dock" look and feel (think "Cannery Row").
Owens Beach is a long stalled project that I'm not sure will remain as was intended. In this, the area of the Owens Beach region would become a prim refinery, processing pure prim from the mine located in the region (this part of the build is pretty much complete). This would also allow for some expansion of Kittehwerks in Inner Harbor as well, as the delivery point for all those mined prims.
There is no ETA on either project, though it is likely that we'll see the Portage Bay build something in 2016.
Beyond this, there are still other duplicates to be edited, and other changes over time to Bay City. Also, Michael Linden keeps threatening a ferry boat. More on that another time!
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
On the 14th of March, 2008, Linden Lab founder Philip Rosedale (aka Philip Linden) announce he was stepping down from the CEO position to become chairman of their Board of Directors. Two months later, Mark Kingdon (M Linden) took the hot seat, followed by the return of Philip Rosedale for roughly four months beginning in June 2010 -- during a massive layoff at the Lab -- followed briefly by Bob Komin (BK Linden) taking the reigns in October of that year -- and Rodvik Humble (Rodvik Linden) following up in that position starting in January 2011.
The current CEO, Ebbe Altman (Ebbe Linden) took the helm in 2014 and has served in that position since.
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February 2016
CRYSTAL BLUE PERSUASION
The
big news this month is the opening of Bay City's latest tourist
hotspot, the Crystal Blue pool bordering Bay City - Dennis and Bay City -
Barnstable. This lovely enclosed pool takes cues from such great
real-word destinations as the Sutro Baths formerly in first life's San
Francisco, but with twists you'll only find in this Bay City natatorium.
The
name combines the first life name of Ever Dreamscape with a reference
to Bay City Alliance founder BlueGin Yifu. You'll find blue crystals in
the fountain out front too, as well as some butterflies for Ever and
lilypads created by Hyper Mole. The overall fountain honors these three
Bay Citizens in a respectful manner.
The
pool itself is a spacious and wonderful place to beat the summer heat,
while the enclosed nature of it means swimming is available even in
inclement weather. Be sure to check out the display of years of Bay City
posters on the walls, the changing stalls located under the stairs, and
the push-enabled diving boards for quick entry into the water!
A
word of note, though, while you can always click the life preservers
and have a float, if you want to swim like a fish, I'd recommend making
sure your AO has swim animations, or getting a swimming hud of some
nature from the Second Life Marketplace. I've had one for years, and
feel it's practically a must have. To be honest, I *don't* know why it's
not built-into Second Life, given our innate ability to fly.
Go check out the pool today. I think you'll love it!
the 22nd of February, 2008, was when Bay City was first publicly announced in a blog entry by the former Blue Linden! Hey, that's the 22nd of February is your editor's rezday (but 2006)! Time for a good tinfoil hat conspiracy!
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January 2016
POLAR BEAR MOLES, SWIMMING IN WINTER
Moles are moving slowly here in the winter months, as they get back to the office post holiday and after the big rush to complete all the annual holiday goodies.
Not all of them have been quiet, though, as Garden Mole has used the relatively calm time to work on the Molexandria project some more on the Mole's sekrit holes. Expect the unveiling of this project before too much longer!
NEW PORT NEWS
Well, not New Port, but it's twin, Portage Bay! Head Mole Michael Linden reported at a recent Bay City Alliance meeting that the Portage Bay overlay is currently about 3/4 of the way done. Here's hoping we see this project come to fruition soon!
On January 21, 2011, just a bit after 1:00 p.m. SLT, the formerly private Teen Second Life grid was merged with the Main Grid. While much of the former Teen Grid remains in it's previous location on the grid, the TSL Bay City locations were moved to become the West Side of Bay City!
Teen Second Life was designed for users from age 13-16, and had originally opened to the public on February 14, 2005, but never had the popularity of the main grid. Both TSL and Bay City were championed in part by the former Blue Linden, and "Blue" remains a common place name in both areas in his honor.
NO NEWS IS NO NEWS
It's the quiet time of year, at least from our view. The moles ARE surely busy working on this year's holiday builds, but this means not much to see on our side of the world.
Rest assured, however, there is work going on, albeit slower than I'd prefer, in the moles' hideaway across the void sea. Hopefully we'll see more soon!
Rest assured, however, there is work going on, albeit slower than I'd prefer, in the moles' hideaway across the void sea. Hopefully we'll see more soon!
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
In December 2004, Resident Kermitt Quirk created Tringo. Described as a mix between Tetris and Bingo, the game had been a popular pastime within Second Life. It not only led to "spinoffs" like SLingo and others, and eventually led to versions outside of Second Life/November 2015
WHAT NEXT?
The Moles of the Linden Department of Public Works have just gone through both the launch of their Hallowe'en Tour and the release of a brilliant bunch of new SL starter avatars -- will it be time for more in Bay City soon?
Sources say yes, with both Portage Bay and the Molexandria overlay on deck.
Watch these spaces for more!
Sources say yes, with both Portage Bay and the Molexandria overlay on deck.
Watch these spaces for more!
SPOOKS-BE-GONE
The fairgrounds have been given a heavy dosage of sky and water cleaner, removing the creepy windlight action in Barcola Sound and North Channel for another year. Before too long, it'll surely start to snow there -- but not for now! Thanks again to the moles for their weather control powers!
THIS DATE IN HISTORY
In November 2009, the long rumors Second Life Enterprise project shipped in beta allowing companies to have a Second Life region "sim in a box." The project did not turn out to be very successful, and it -- and the staff behind it -- was no more in short order. The project was fully shuttered in 2010.
October 2015
THE LOLLERCOASTER ROARS TO LIFE
At long last, the Lollercoaster lives in Hairy Hippo Fun land! The long awaited coaster came to life on the 9th of September, thanks to the hard work of Dyna Mole and her associates, Silent and Sylvan Mole.
The Lollercoaster was the last build intended for Hairy Hippo Fun Land, although murmurs have spread amongst some moles wanting to update existing rides to a more modern fashion. Best of luck to them!
The Lollercoaster was the last build intended for Hairy Hippo Fun Land, although murmurs have spread amongst some moles wanting to update existing rides to a more modern fashion. Best of luck to them!
A NEW ALLEY IN MASHPEE
A small alley has been added on the north end of Bay City - Mashpee, helping to clean up some fallen earthworks in the area. This vastly improves the area around the Whitman's home, meaning no more accidental falls into the ditch.
ADDITIONAL REZ ZONE ADDED TO ROUTE 66
Drivers on Route 66 now have a new vehicle rez zone for their trips, located at the Oak Bluffs / Weston crossing, on the Weston side. This should allow more road use and a fresh place in case of roadway mishaps to re-rez a vehicle.
CLEAN STREETS
While not related to the mole specifically, I wanted to note the great automated street sweeper by ADudeNamed Anthony that is traversing the roads of our city. Watch for it around the west side of our city, or as far east as Willoughby Way in Bay City - Imaginario. Great job, Anthony!
THIS DATE IN HISTORY
On 13th October, 2010, Jack Linden announced the beta for importing mesh into Second Life. The public beta took place on the beta grid. It would not be until 23rd August of the following year that mesh went gridwide on the production (Agni) grid we all exist in today.
August 2015
August 2015
WITH THE DINOS OUT OF THE BAG, WHAT'S NEXT?
The moles have been exceptionally quiet in Bay City in recent weeks, as they've been very busy on the newly-released Paleo Quest.
While Paleo Quest is not Bay City specific, the completion of this fun Dinosaur-centric game allows for more Mole time to now work on Bay City's outstanding projects.
In a recent Bay City Alliance meeting, Residents listed the outstanding projects, and which ones they would like to see come online first.
Number one by a landslide was the Lollercoaster in Hairy Hippo Fun Land. The coaster is the last thing that is needed for the Fun Land to be fully functional, and folks have been waiting a good long time for it. Here's hoping the Moles will apply some of the fun skills picked up during Paleo Quest building to make it a true standout.
Beyond that was the overlay of Portage Bay, turning it into a fishery/cannery area for our fair city, rather than a mere duplicate of the New Port Yacht Club. Word is this build is largely complete and just needs some finishing touches to get sent our way. Fingers crossed on this one!
The duplicate of Molexandria in Bay city - Barnstable and Bay City - Dennis is also on the list. The project has also been in the process for a while. It would be a pool area with a "Sutro Baths" look and feel.
Finally, a build in Owens Beach would bring a "prim refinery" to this region, allowing for a nice place for railroad buffs to play. This might also include some more work around Kittehwerks in Inner Harbor, too. This project appears to be totally stalled, with the mole on it leaving an "easter egg" on the parcel with no other work for years.
There has also been some talk about putting in a rail ferry to serve the area, leading up to the northern continent, as well as further enhancements to Hairy Hippo Fun Land.
Let's hope we see work on these soon!
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
With all the hullabaloo about Project Sansar, let's focus on August 2001, and the alpha-that-was, Linden World. See what the one that became Second Life (and was almost named Sansara) looked like 15 years ago this month at https://youtu.be/uK3x3FNlleUkav6QvhGxCZbqdQ
May 2015
BUSY BEAVERS. UH, MOLES
While folks have not seen the Moles out and about as usual, they have certainly been busy lately. All the moles -- including some new faces on the Linden Department of Public Works -- have been nose the grindstone working on their next big thing.
I've not talked with them as much as I have in some past weeks, as I know their busy on a rather large project that will likely be taking the place of the Winter Wonderland build (and given that it is May already, perhaps it is time for the winter fun to melt off by now).
Expect more from them soon as this rather sizable project finishes up and we get back to their regular good works!
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
Mark Kingdon took over as Second Life CEO on the 8th of May, 2008, leading to what many might call a troubled time at the helm.
...but enough about that, May 2008 is better known for the month that Bay City opened, with the initial viewing of the area beginning on the 8th of May, followed shortly by the initial land auctions. Happy 7th, Bay City!
April 2015
DALEY BAY WATER DECLARED NON-TOXIC, FUN
The waters around Daley Bay took on a verdant, emerald-green hue in mid-March, leading to an initial health panic as people feared toxic run off from the recent power-wash of the water treatment facility by the LDPW stripped that building from its former green and aqua tone, revealing a yellow and blue hue.
The fears were unfounded, as it was revealed to have turned green due to the work of St. Patrick's day revelers, who used a simple, non-toxic green dye to tint our bay's waters.
As of this writing, the dye seems to have dissipated, leaving the water in it's usual tones.
The fears were unfounded, as it was revealed to have turned green due to the work of St. Patrick's day revelers, who used a simple, non-toxic green dye to tint our bay's waters.
As of this writing, the dye seems to have dissipated, leaving the water in it's usual tones.
NEW PATH IN HARWICH
A small roadway in Bay City - Harwich, with one of our cobblestone alleys creeping up behind the westside theater. This will provide road access for at least two residences in that area.
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
With renewed talk of Linden Lab's Next Generation virtual world, not to mention the opening of the High Fidelity alpha of Philip Rosedale (neé Linden), it seems right to mention that it was the 13th of March, 2002 that the first Resident, Steller Sunshine, joined Second Life.
It would be months later, in October, for the beta to go public, and more than a year later -- in June -- for Second Life to be declared public. It is this June event we celebrate each year as the "Birthday" of Second Life, though the actual "birth" even before Stellar joined.
March 2015
SPRING CLEANING
The sewage treatment facility in Daley Bay has received its yearly cleaning for the first time since it was built, as Michael Linden took the power washer to the facade of the structure. While we in the city have long through the building to be green and aqua, it turns out that the structure itself is actually yellow and blue, and similar tones to the Bay City Brewery across Route 66 from it.
It is unclear how this may affect the quality of Bay City's finest beers and ales, but do watch for green runoff as well as the introduction of Bay City Brew’s green-hued “St. Patrick’s Lager.”
It is unclear how this may affect the quality of Bay City's finest beers and ales, but do watch for green runoff as well as the introduction of Bay City Brew’s green-hued “St. Patrick’s Lager.”
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
It was in March 2005 that Second Life 1.6 was rolled out, bringing for the first time Media Streaming with QuickTime to the grid. This update also standardized the building interface, bringing with it things we see today when we open our build or edit menu.
Other features that we take for granted today that rolled to the grid with 1,6 were a searchable inventory, "Friending" other avatars (versus simply handing out calling cards), and the ability to sell the objects with for sale land.
This was also when we got "bubble chat," which is still not widely used even today -- but fun.
February 2015
SNOWBALLS!
The latest mole project, Winter Wonderland, has opened -- and with it, the return of the Linden versus Residents snowball fight!
Seventy avatars (including a mere 16 Lindens) crammed into the region, brandishing experience-tool laden snowball weapons. In spite of a few load related hiccups stalling the vendors and even the region, a good time was had by all.
Thanks to Linden Lab for the return of this yearly tradition!
CAFE DECO TURNS TO ICE CREAM
Cafe Deco on the Westside has changed hands, and is now known as Talpa's Ice Creams. Stop in for a sweet treat at this overlay, suggested by Uccello Poultry and put together by Michael Linden. While possibly still under construction, feel free to stop in for a scoop of some great ice cream. Touch the cones or frozen bananas on the counter for a folder of yummies (Chocolate Dipped Moley Mint is my favorite!). You can also get a free, attachable Linden Bike outside the front door.
POOL HERE, POOL GONE
Garden Mole, making way for a new build on the parcel, has wiped a false start on the new pool build in Bay City -Barnstable and Bay City - Dennis. Look for a fresh perspective from Garden on that parcel, with inspiration pulled from the Sutro Baths and the Cliff House in San Francisco, California.
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
In February 2007, Mia Linden, then a member of Linden Lab's community team, started a "Kiss A Linden" (also known as a "Hug A Linden" event on the Teen Grid) event. Both Lindens and the many volunteers that mentored and helped were honored at the event.
Initially held in Linden Village on the Borrowdale region, this quickly migrated to the Isle of View and Isle of ViewToo (as well as Hugsville on the Teen Grid).
In 2011 it saw heavy promotion by Linden Lab, including a fresh new look for Cupid Linden -- but in 2012, the event ended.
Will we see something like it again? Hard to say, but in 2014 the Isle of View got a new look, and Linden Lab has again promoted the location.
January 2015
SNOW MELT
No sooner did it snow in the Bay City Fairgrounds than did the snow melt off just six days after our annual Prim Drop. Thanks to the Moles for their assistance this wintertide!
WORK CONTINUES
Moles have been pulled onto another non-Bay City project, but are slowly making progress around town too. Expect to see some changes and new works soon.
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
January of 2008 was one of the high-water marks of Second Life history, with residents spending a total of 28,274,505 hours inworld. On average 38,000 residents were logged in at any particular moment. The next year saw the highest maximum concurrency, with 88,200 logged in at the same time in the first quarter of 2009.
December 2014
SNOW IN THE FAIRGROUNDS
Weather has hit the fairgrounds again this year, with a dusting of fresh powder sticking to the coldest part of our city. This has helped keep the ice rink solid, and should be for much of the holiday season. Thanks to the Moles for helping to make this happen!
BUSY BEAVERS, er...
The moles have been busy little buggers, giving the public a view of their homes in Meauxle Bureaux, decorating the islands near it, working on an upcoming "Winter Wonderland" and doing a holiday overlay of the aforementioned homes, amongst other little projects around the grid.
Unfortunately, this has also not included a lot of visible work here in out city. While I am assured that work is still ongoing out of sight, It is my hope that we'll soon see some more new fun in Bay City.
That Lollercoaster, for example...
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
In December of 2010, Rodvik Humble was named the new CEO of Linden Lab. Humble would go on to serve in that role until January 2014. During his time we saw a change in scope towards games, with Linden Lab taking on additional gaming properties, while launching games within Second Life such as Linden Realms. On a tech side of things, Second Life gained a lot of new ways to speed up the experience, while also gaining more game-like additions such as pathfinding and as-of-yet to be released Experience Tools.
November 2014
ALL'S QUIET ON THE BAY CITY FRONT
Moles have been fairly quiet this month in Bay City, with projects outside of Bay City taking their attention (Halloween Tour, Meauxle Bureaux, premium gifts) and some Bay City builds being prepared off-site (Portage Bay, Lollercoaster)
That's not to say they've been hibernating: Revisions were completed on the Water Trolleys during November, including a redo of all Water Trolley stations to better accommodate the new trolley design.
Work has also continues on the pools on the Bay City - Barnstable and Bay City - Dennis borders, with work on above ground buildings and a fountain ongoing.
Also, the Moles were kind enough to add extra spookiness to our fairgrounds for the Hallowe'en Hay Maze, dulling the skies and adding a reddish tint to our waters. Spooky stuff!
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
The first map of Second Life during its public beta was published on the 21st of November. On it, you can see the initial 16 regions of Second Life.
While all these regions remain in Second Life®, very little of what was can be found today:
While all these regions remain in Second Life®, very little of what was can be found today:
A. Boardwalk. This is lost to history. One can find some hidden references to it at Varney Gardens, owned by Bay City Resident Pygar Bu and located in Varney. Our own Hairy Hippo Fun Land includes board pieces and textures from this legacy build.
B. Model Homes. These are long gone. I might assume that the model homes were ones that still exist today in places such as....
C. The Stillman Free Bazaar still exists and is home to many early and current free content items.
D. Calendar. Long gone from this location, though a calendar does still exist in the basement of the Governor's Mansion in Clementina.
E. The Boat Park - a model boat "game" created by Philip Linden - has been gone for ages.
F. The Statue of Man is still in this location, and is one of the few items that has consistently stayed in place since the early days.
G. Outlands Wall. This partially remains today, with half of it lost in a mishap during the Outlands war. It is unlikely that this structure will ever be restored.
H-L. The Tower, The Atlas Casino, the Alt-Zoom Disco, and the Loop Shack are all gone to history. I have a few minor pieces of the Disco, which existed before the era of parcel audio streams: you mixed the music live using sound loops. You could purchase new loops at the Loop Shack.
M. Avatar Central - and the Welcome Area - have been gone from Natoma for a decade, give or take. These were recreated for SL10B. A recreation of the Natoma Avatar Central can also be found in the Aqua region, which also previously had an Avatar Central -- albeit it a different build from the one there now.
October 2014
ROOT FOR THE CANALS
Mole work is complete for now on the water trolleys, with both the east and west sides sporting new, all-mesh trolley vehicles and redesigned "step down" stations.
The ride system itself is improved. It provides a "statelier" ride, with a slight speed drop, while providing comfort and safety in a newly redesigned, higher capacity water trolley.
On the down side, one cannot at current stand up inside the new water trolleys, due to the oddities of Second Life physics with the new mesh vehicles. It is recommend you board by using the "sit" icon to be ushered to a free seat.
Look for these today in the center of both the east and west side of the city.
"NOVA ALBION, WE HAVE A PROBLEM"
Meanwhile, the trolleys in our sister city of Nova Albion have proven problematic for being swapped out for a modern drive system, as both the grade into Dore as well as a turn or two located on region crossings are proving difficult to navigate. As such, this project is continuing, but still not yet ready. Perhaps soon!
PORTAGE BAY
A new overlay in the Portage Bay region is reported to be "90% complete," though there is no ETA for when the overlay will escape the "sekrit" burrows of the moles. Keep your eyes peeled!
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
The original public beta for Second Life began in October of 2002, with the release of the original 16 regions These regions still exist today, and are just a ways East of Bay City. They stretch from Freelon to Shipley, and still include some of the oldest builds on the Second Life Grid. Each is named after a street in San Francisco's SOMA south of Market St. district, or SOMA.
For a look into Second Life's past, check out the Statue of Man in Natoma or the beanstalk in Taber. Both of these have roots stretching back into this early beta period. The Governor's Mansion, now in the Clementina region, was also created during Second Life's beta.
September 2014
In addition to recent upgrades to the Bay City Trolleys, the bridges of Bay City have gotten some work on their internal mechanisms, making them run more efficiently and predictably. This will be more evident to the fine residents of Bay City - Edgartown, long plagued with a canal bridge that seemed to lack the ability to know which end was up.
They can still misfire after restarts, but recent improvements should minimize this as an issue.
Before there was a Bay City, there was Nova Albion -- and they have their own trolley system. Indeed, their trams have had their own share of troubles even before the Lab moved away from Havok 1 back in the spring of 2008.
their system was built very differently from ours, relying on an overhead catenary wires to provide a guide and ersatz electric power. It was also built to be a fully physical vehicle. The combination of these features have led their system to be flung off tracks, to travel at a tilt, and face other maladies over the years.
Their system will be borrowing from ours, using the same sort of waypoint movement as ours while maintaining the existing look and feel of an overhead wire driven trolley. They're also intending to retain their vintage trams, maintaining the vintage charm that Nova Albion is known for.
Work is that our long-delayed roller coaster in Hairy Hippo Fun Land is getting a lot of love lately. A test vehicle is out in the station, and Moles have said they have a working vehicle in their own sekrit lairs.
More work is still forthcoming on this system, however, as they seek to add more thrills and excitement on the run. More as this develops!
Just last year, on the 25th of September, Linden Lab® announced SLShare, allowing Second Life users to opt in for sharing content on Facebook via the Second Life® viewer. This feature has since been expanded to include Flickr and Twitter. Upcoming are further viewer improvements to further integrate these features into the existing snapshot floater.
Meanwhile, Facebook still bans Second Life avatars from their system.
August 2014
FOUR FOR BRIDGE
OUR SISTER'S TROLLEYS
LOLLERCOASTER UPDATE
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
MEMORIAL TO EVER DREAMSCAPE UNVEILED
NEW INTERURBAN TROLLEYS HIT ROUTE 66
SHOOT 'EM UP!
THE WATER'S FINE!
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
April 2014
BAY CITY GOES GREEN
Well, not in the "eco" sense, but the waters of Daley Bay were a tribute to the Emerald Isle for St. Patrick's Day. Borrowing a page from the Chicago River in first life, Michael Linden of the LDPW made our water a lush green for the holiday.
While it is unsure if this will be the start of a tradition, it is hoped that perhaps next year we'll see more happen to mark the day in our fair city. Perhaps a party on the verdant waters of the city? Time will tell!
GETTING A-HEAD IN OWENS BEACH
At the workplace for the Owens Beach project, Squishy Mole has left an Easter surprise! Stop by there and pick up a bunny head for your spring time revels.
One may hope that the head is a sign of things to come in Owens beach, and we shall see the long-delayed refinery structure take shape there in the not-too-distant future.
THREE TROLLEY PILE UP AT END OF THE LINE
Bay City trolleys were reported stuck in Truro and Barnstable, with one snarling traffic on rumble night, while the others spent time in a park and a canal, respectively. These were quickly cleaned up, but are another sign of the aging trolley system in our city by the bay. Hope remains alive for work soon to fix the dilapidated trolley and water trolley system in Bay City, as well as other favorites such as the Lollercoaster.
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
On 13 April 13, 2007, the ability to rate other people was removed from the Second Life profile. Long used to show that a person was a good builder, amongst other skills, the ratings proved to be highly "gamed," as people would have "rating parties" to artificially increase their ratings. No system has replaced it.
March 2014
MYSTERY IN MOLEXANDRIA!
Recent mole sightings in the western version of Molexandria has locals buzzed, as work begins to take shape on new construction on site. Garden mole was spotted by locals putting out 'under Construction" signs around Molexandria, straddling the border between Bay City - Barnstable and Bay City - Dennis, with none other than Head Mole Michael Linden showing up a week later on site.
A year ago, a proposal to see this copy of the easy side Molexandria take on a new character as a public pool. It is unsure if this is still what the moles have up their sleeves, but we shall all see in the months to come!
Check out the site today in Bay City - Barnstable, or visit Bay City - Imaginario to see the original (and remaining) Molexandria. Try out the maze, and get your friends together to fire the molazers.
ISSUES BEGIN TO PLAGUE THE WATER TROLLEYS
Issues with the Bay City trolley system have seemed to spread to the venerable Water Trolleys as well, leaving aquatic-based commuters stranded in Bay City. The LDPW has been busy collecting stalled vehicles, while those in vehicles have had to dodge the usual stalled interurbans at bridge crossings through the city.
The LDPW has promised to make trolley repair a high priority in their work in Bay City, One may hope they'll be back up to full capacity soon.
BRIDGE DELAYS SNARK TRAFFIC
Issues with the Edgartown bridge again snarled traffic, and created a spectacular jump for participants in the Bay City Rumble late in February. The bridge has since been fixed by the moles -- but if there's one thing we're sure of, the bridge and its troubles will rise again!
SMOOTHER, HARDER PAVEMENT ON ROUTE 66
Crossings between Bay City - Sandwich to Bay City - Mashpee, as well as Bay City - Mooseheasd to Bay City - Molesworth should be slightly better as LDPW crews worked over the pavement and ground, reducing the likelihood your vehicle will sink in on crossing. This should make for a much improved driving experience. Check it out in your favorite vehicle today!
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
On the 13th of March, 2002 -- a whole 12 years ago -- Steller Sunshine became the first non-Linden Resident of Second Life. Steller remains a Second Life resident to this day -- and still logs in! She remains the ultimate oldbie, and with some Linden attrition, may now be the oldest active account in Second Life!
February 2014
MOLE DAY A SUCCESS
Moles See Shadows
This year, as in the past, Mole Day was a hit! Four moles attended (Garden, Quartz, Abnor, and Railway) attended, and shadows were seen! I'm sure this means more great works to roll out by our favorite talpids!
The event boasted a pretty steady crowd of around 30 or so avatars, all enjoying the platter-spinning of GoSpeed Racer and the guitar shredding of local boy made good, Christov Kohnke! A great time was had by all, and the region did not crash once!
SUBTERRANEAN TROLLEY BLUES
A Bay City trolley jumped our tracks and made its way through Nova Albion and all the way out to the Ahern Welcome Area. What's more, it ended up not on the Dore causeway, but under it, being a marvel to behold for those who cammed under the ground.
The trolley is part of ongoing issues with our aging transportation infrastructure, which is part of upcoming Mole plans to update the system. Watch for work soon, until then we may see a trolley or two where they just don't belong.
THE EDGARTOWN BRIDGE SONG
The Edgartown Bridge has again been righted. It is unclear why this bridge fails so often, compared to others in our fair city. the local constables are asked to keep an eye out for Caledon saboteurs or other fifth column elements.
BABY, IT'S NOT QUITE SO COLD OUTSIDE
No "snowpocalypse" in Bay City this year, as the moles have removed holiday goodies around the city, including using their industrial-strength hairdryers to thaw the fairgrounds.
As such, the Bay City Fairgrounds is now out of its deep freeze and showing signs of an early spring. The snow is gone and windlight settings are restored to their "natural" look.
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
On the 22nd of February, 2008 - which happened to be Marianne McCann's second Rezday - Blue Linden announced that there would be a new set of city-style themed regions named Bay City coming to Second Life.
OSPREY THERIN MEMORIALIZED, HONORED
Osprey Therian mounts rescue mission while many mourn her creator's passage
The person behind the avatar Osprey Therian, Vivian Kendall, passed away on the 9th of December. While her involvement with Bay City itself was limited (she organized a Nova Albion to Bay City parade before the original auctions and was party to come Hallowe'en events between us, Nova Albion, and the suburbs), her influence on Residents across the grid, including many in our fair city, is far-reaching.
A memorial was held on the 14th of December on Osprey's land in Bodega. Several attended to listen to Justin Esparza and Enjah Mysterio speak about Vivian
In attendance, as well as Mysterio and Esparza, were a large selection of prominent avatars, including many from Bay City:Tozh Taurog, Amulius Lioncourt, Fenix Eldritch, Robin Sojourner, Stroker Serpentine, SensualMami, Arrehn Oberlander, Lucy Tornado, Patch Lamington, Wildstar Beaumont, Marianne McCann, Ilianexsi Sojourner, Pixleen Mistral, Rhiannon Chatnoir, Bixyl Shuftan, Monty Talbot, Torley Olmstead, TheaDee, Kumi Kuhr, Mossant Paravane, Gentle Heron, Prokofy Neva, Vick Forcella, RacerXGullwing, Francesca Alva, Molly Montale, Gomi Mfume, Holocluck Henly, Frans Charming, Avi Arrow, NikoKito Aries, Kennylex Luckless, Laetizia Coronet, Otenth Paderborn, Zayn Till, and Watrbabee Greymoon.
The next day saw Osprey Therian lead a heroic mission to hopefully rescue Salazar Jack. Her and a small group of brave adventurers, including our own Felix Eldritch, went through the anomaly in Rodeo in earch of Jack. Unfortunately, members of this team have not made contact since crossing through the portal.
Both were wonderful send offs for a person who had a very big hand in the creative side of Second Life, and who inspired many. She will be missed.
January 2013
With the holidays upon us, the moles are nestled safely in their warm burrows, and not much seen on our side of the grid.
They have done a bit more holiday decorating, though a plan to tint the effluent of the water treatment plant to green and red seems to have been nixed .
They did do a boat removal in New Port: one that was stuck there, in the air, due to a current "selected/sat upon" auto return bug.
According to head mole, Michael Linden, there are "a bunch" of Bay City-related fixes in the works, but other projects of higher priority are creeping ahead. This will include trolley fixes would could see the overhaul of the entire trolley line. This would be a welcome repair for those who rely on our beleaguered and aging trolley system for local travel.
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
January 2008 saw a high water mark, with SL hitting its highest concurrency. Over 88,200 were logged into Second Life at the same time. Plans then included increasing capacity for the 100,000 mark, expected by mid-year. 88,200 remains the high point to this day.
According to Linden Lab, Second Life Residents spent a total of 28,274,505 hours inworld in January of 2008. The average concurrency was 38,000 residents. It is unclear how many of those Residents were 'bot accounts.
December 2013
TROLLEY MAYHEM!
Morning commuters were aghast to find several Bay City Trolleys stuck on Route 66 this month, mainly in regions that do not support trolleys. No idea what caused this rather large malfunction, but I can only assume someone greased the rails a bit much. Or they were affected by a push weapon or something. Because there are no sensors in those regions, the trolleys had to be cleaned up manually by the Linden Department of Public Works.
Related to this, Michael Linden has let me know that part of upcoming maintenance work around the city will include rebuilding the trolley system from the ground up. Much of this work is pending available Mole time as of now. It is unsure how this will affect drive time traffic on Route 66, but we'll assume you can take other surface streets during that time.
Out with autumn, in with winter.
Halloween again visited our city, with moley goods places out at Hairy Hippo Fun Land, the Bay City Community Center, and the approach to the fairgrounds. A number of spooky pathfinding pumpkins were also spotted in the fairgrounds proper. All of these left shortly after Hallowe'en concluded, and before snow fell on the fairgrounds before the skate rink iced over. Thanks to the LDPW for their assistance on seasonal changes to the fairgrounds this and every year!
Also, an errant pile of skulls that were left at the Weston entrance to Hairy Hippo Fun Land have been returned to the nether world from whence they came, thanks to Michael Linden.
NO MORE LONG DROP
Several missing pieces of walkway have been replaced in Canal Park in Bay City - Maddequet, fixing a dangerous hazard for those walking or biking in the area.. As these missing pieces matched similar issues in the twin region of Bay City - Morton, it is assumed it was an error dating back to Bay City's creation. Here's to safe paths in our fair city!
BOY OH BUOY!
A buoy went missing in New Port, only to be found behind the yacht club. It is presumed that someone was attempting to haul it off at maritime salvage. It has since been retrieved by Guy Linden.
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
On 23rd December, 2010, BK Linden announced that Rod Humble became the new CEO of Linden Lab. Rodvik followed Philip Linden (twice) and M Linden, as well as a brief stint where BK was essentially handling CEO duties. He's still with us today.
November 2013
WHEREFORE ART THOU, MOLES?
One may have noticed the distinct lack of mole fur about the grid lately, which has led to many fearing that the moles are simply no longer around. Such, however, is not the case.
The moles can be found deep in their holes right now, nestled deep in Aditi, also known as the beta grid. Here they are working on some very specific projects for which I can't get much of any information on.
I will presume, however, that some of this is the autumn maintenance sprint for Bay City: work had been heard in the grapevines that no less than Guy Linden has been spotted sniffing around New Port, presumably preparing for some of the upcoming goodness.
Meanwhile, the LDPW was kind enough to help spook up the fairgrounds a bit with some adjustment to the region windlight, adding in some extra creepiness into the mix with pathfinding pumpkins. They also provided a few props last year, which have made their way in this time out as well.
SPOOKS ABOUT TOWN
More moley Hallowe'en appearances were spotted in decor on the bridge leading into the fairgrounds, as well as at Bay City Center and at Hairy Hippo Fun Lands.
MISSING IN MADDEQUET
Uccello Poultry had noted some missing paving stones in Canal Park in Maddequet, leading to unsafe conditions for walkers and others in our fair city.
No less than Michael Linden was able to fix the errant walkway, which is now safe for all.
Meanwhile, "Missing in Maddequet" has been optioned as a RomCom smash by local movie makers.
EVIL SPIRITS IN THE AIRPORT
A glitch was found and repaired at Hau Koda, with some ghost prims taking up over 5000 land impact in the region. It is unsure what caused this, with many pointing to malevolent spirits or perhaps evil pixies. The LDPW was kind enough to manage this in short order, allowing planes -- and just about anything else -- to be able to rez again.
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
November of 2010 was the death knell of unique last names in Second Life, as Display Names were launched and, as a part of the launch, the only available last name became "Resident." While some were able to get last names for a few months more via some of the then-available third party gateways, this too became a thing of the past. Many have tried, unsuccessfully, to get the old last names back, but to date Linden Lab has not budged. Only a couple unique last names, such as "LDollarSeller" for members of the Linden Dollar Authorized Reseller Program, have been created since the move to Display names.
Bonus trivia: the final publicly available surname? "LastChance."
October 2013
MINOR GRIDQUAKE REPORTED
A very minor gridquake was reported in Bay City - Morton, in front of Sylvia Tamalyn's Mexican restaurant. While no damage was reported, it did roughen up the land outside the structure, even exposing part of the city's water table.
Lab seismologists studied the anomaly, then smoothed the land.
There had been reports of this elsewhere, including in the suburbs to our Northeast.
THE FALL OF THE MOLES
As reported last month, more mole work is planned this autumn, including work throughout the city to aid our aging trolley and water trolley lines, as well as other features within the city.
Look for more Moley goodness over the autumn months!
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
Halloween of 2003 saw the very moon with a spooky jack o' lantern face. This was one of the first Holiday moons. At that time, Linden Lab would change the sun and moon to celebrate various holidays, putting an Easter egg up at Easter, a heart for Valentine's Day, etc.
When Second Life gained its 1,000,000 member a special sun and moon with the Second Life logo and the text "1,000,000" appeared for the month of October.
The last of these was for Martin Luther King day in 2007. With the launch of Windlight, that capability was no longer available.
September 2013
FUTURE SHOCK
On the 27th of August, Michael Linden made it official: several items in need of maintenance (addressed in last month's Post) are intended to be addressed by the Linden Department of Public Works this Autumn. This will include trolley service, the Lollercoaster, and other delayed and damaged content -- and may include one additional new feature: a rail ferry from our tracks up to the Northern Continent.
Watch for Moles and their good works this Autumn on the streets and byways of Bay City.
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
In September 2011, Linden Lab introduced exclusive premium content. The first offering, a set of furniture designed by the owner of The Loft, plus premium sandbox areas. Since then we've seen three more exclusive gifts, plus the addition of The Wilderness, Racer's Gulch, an aviation sandbox region, a premium rail area, and the Magellan Grid-wide hunt.
August 2013
SPRINTING
With the completion of a very, very big project in conjunction with Magellan Linden, the moles are once again gearing up for some much needed maintenance in Bay City and elsewhere.
Amongst the items to hopefully get some love in the Bay City region are the following:
Trolleys in both the east and west side are having issues, as many have seen. They are routinely faulting at bridge crossings in Moosehead and Sandwich. Water Trolleys, mostly on the west side, are also having some issues with sticking at bridge crossings. While it is unlikely caused by Linden pennies on the tracks, we do not advise such behavior.
Bowling alleys in both the east and the west side are working poorly, with the pinsetter often dropping the 7 and 10 pin on its own. Attempts to get the pinsetter to cut back on the alcohol have not been heeded.
Some cobblestones in Maddequet have gone missing, presumably filched by Dr. Talpid one late night.
The Edgartown bridge, while behaving recently, has been often sticking in up and other odd positions. We are largely certain this is not sabotage caused by Caledon-sympathizing instigators.
The "A-Mole-T" givers in Molexandria at Bay City - Imaginario and Bay City - Barnstable have been reluctant to award their prizes. It is unclear is this is a technical fault with the system only allowing a certain number of people to use it before it overflows its ability to remember who has and has not gotten a prize, or if it is a case of wild and untamed mole spirits not wishing to give away such a precious item to just anyone.
Many other projects are also being eyed, with a hope that they will get completed. These include:
Owens Beach and Bay City Industrial Park
Project was to consist of some sort of "processing facility" in Owens Beach, and some enhancements in Inner Harbor and possibly Daley Bay. This will definitely make some of our local rail fans happy.
The Lollercoaster in Hairy Hippo Fun Land
Rollercoaster project was delayed due to the roll out and subsequent adjusting of pathfinding code. Project is supposedly near completion off-site, but not yet finished. This could be due to SLOSHA code violations.
Shooting Gallery in Hairy Hippo Fun Land
Similar delay to the "Lollercoaster." Concerns remain about kids shooting their eyes out.
Playground in Bay City - Imaginario and Bay City - Barnstable
Somebody - and I will not name names - seems to have glued all the items on the playground so they do not move. These need some major reworking..
Two other projects were approved but have not yet been seen in the public eye
A public pool overlay was planned for Bay City - Barnstable, and a fishing pier/cannery overlay was planned for Portage Bay
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
August 2011 saw the release of the Second Life web profiles, allowing Second Life members to have a "social media" outlet without having to deal with the "real names" policies of services like Google+ and Facebook. On most days, you can access your SL feed at my.secondlife.com
July 2013
SL10B A HUGE SUCCESS
Annual event celebrates Second Life leaving beta
The Second Life 10th Birth Community Celebration was held from the 16th to 23rd of June. Featuring 22 regions -- including "Bear Island" and "The Corn Field" -- and four live and DJ performance stages, the event packed in avatars from all across the grid.
Bay City hosted a History Pavilion in SL10B beguile, focusing on our five+ years of community, events, and fun. It was built by Marianne McCann and featured photographs and ephemera from many Bay City Residents.
Several others from Bay City were involved in the event, as exhibitors, greeters, moderators, exhibitor assistants, or sim coordinators.
The annual birthday event traces its roots back to the 23rd of June, 2003, when Second Life officially left its beta period. The first anniversary gala was held the next year to unearth the beta time capsule, and an yearly celebration was born.
HELP MAGELLAN!
Magellan Linden has surfaced, and he needs Resident assistance! The evil Dr. Talpa has been working on a mind control system on the grid, and the esteemed explorer has had to call on all of us to lend a hand.
This is an experience only open to Premium members, who can gather in the Crankshaft region to hunt for items and clues to lead to the defeat of Dr. Talpa's nefarious scheme.
The hunt will take you to far-flung parts of the grid -- and bring you disturbingly close to home. I shan't give away too much, but suffice to say that not even Bay City is immune to Dr. Talpa's scheme.
MAINTENANCE SPRINT SOON!
With the completion of a couple big-ticket projects, the moles will soon be traveling the grid doing some much delayed work on our corner of the Mainland.
Projects reported for the Moles to work on include some much-needed maintenance of our trolleys and water trolleys, as well as smaller but no less important work in Edgartown and Maddequet.
Watch for our furry friends soon!
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
In July of 2004, the first volunteer driven fundraiser in Second Life for the American Cancer Society was held. 9 avatars participated in the first ever Relay For Life, and US$2,000 was raised. By comparison, last year's RFL in SL raised US$375,385
and involved 1,741 avatars on the track.
June 2013
RODVIK LINDEN SPOTTED IN BAY CITY!
Just days after Bay City's fifth Anniversary, Linden Lab CEO Rodvik Linden was spotted in Bay City, enjoying the sights at Hairy Hippo Fun Land.
His visit was part of a film project of Draxtor Despres, known for his Flufee and World Maker's machinima.
Rodvik spent about a half hour with a crowd of Bay City folks, enjoying the beach ambiance before being whisked off to another filming location.
We hope to host Rodvik in Bay City again in the future, and hope he enjoyed his time with us here.
BAY CITY ON DESIGNING WORLDS
The popular Designing Worlds program on treet.tv came to Bay City, doing a full-length travelogue of many popular destinations.
Hosts Elrik Merlin and Saffia Widdershins were given the full nickel tour of Bay City with their guides Ever Dreamscape and Marianne McCann. Scenes were shot at Hairy Hippo Fun Land, the Bay City Aquarium, the Falmouth Hotel, the Bay City Community Center, the Pen, and Hyperion Towers, home of the Bay City Post and Etv.
You can watch this episode at http://treet.tv/shows/designingworlds/episodes/bay-city
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
June has been a month of highs and lows in Second Life history. 23rd June is when Second Life officially ended its initial beta in 2003, but 8th June is also the time when, in 2010, over 30% of Linden Lab's workforce, including many beloved Lindens, were laid off. That same year saw CEO M Linden -- hired in June of 2008 -- relieved of duty.
May 2013
PORTAGE BAY
As part of continuing work to lessen duplication between the east and west sides of our city, a pair major LDPW projects are greenlit for Bay City. First, the yacht club in Portage Bay will be getting a face life, going from yacht to fishing trawlers! Look for this area to take on the appearance of a fishing dock and cannery, straight out of "On The Waterfront." Then, watch the second copy of Molexandria on the west side of the city as it transforms into public pools, allowing our city another fine venue to beat the city's heat in the warmer months! There is no current ETA on this project, as the Moles are plenty busy at the moment, but they are in the pipeline. Don't be surprised if you see some little furry fellows in hardhats at work soon!
BAY CITY FASHION WEEK
It was a fashion Feast as Bay City Fashion Week was held from 20-29 April this year at the Bay City Fairgrounds!
The event featured several vintage, mid-century designs and designers, including works by Schadenfreude, Sonatta Morales, Misha Kerang Designs, FIN, Robin (Sojourner) Wood, Eclectica, Volstead, Ingenue, Purplemoon Creations, Rhapsody, Delicate Sensibilities. Each designer featured was chosen based on their designs fitting within Bay City's theme: the American urban experience, between 1940 and 1965, perhaps best typified by Chicago circa 1950 and marked by a distinct deco influence.
The designers all spoke well of the event, and are already asking to participate in our 2014 event.
THIS MONTH IN HISTORY
Obviously, Bay City hit the Second Life grid in May -- but the fifth month has always been good for new releases to the Grid. For example, on the 24th of May, 2006, the grid saw the introduction of both local lighting and flexiprims. Imagine a world before that, when skirts, hair, flags, and everything else remained a whole lot more static!
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