Molewatch

Molewatcher Mari

We have been missing the moles in our Fair City so we reached out and asked where they are.

Our tough little critters are busy on some well known projects.

Last month, the latest iteration of Linden Homes hit the Second Life grid as the Bellisseria continent raised from beneath the void sea, linking our home continent of Sansara with the southern land mass known as Jeogeot, aka "The Korean Continent."

Bellisseria currently features two types of home environments: houseboats with a portion of dock for parking one's own watercraft, and "traditional homes" which give the area as mid-century suburban feel. While not as community close as, say, Shermerville, the nicely manicured lawns and shaded streets surrounding these homes should be nothing but attractive to your average Bay City looking for a commute to the suburbs.

The continent is probably best reached -- by those who opt to not otherwise just teleport there -- vis air: a trek from Bay City Municipal to the Coral Waters airstrip on the coast of Bellisseria will likely take you an hour by light aircraft.

As you can guess the (new and improved) Linden Homes (also known as SSP and Bellisseria) is taking most of the time of the moles.

The preparations for SL16B (the 16th birthday of Secound Life) is taking most of the rest.

If you want to participate as exhibitor, performer or volunteer read this article by Daniel Voyager.

They are also doing some secret marketing jobs!

Some are busy fixing things, also in our Fair City. Who knew that things can break.

When I did a critter-count I realised some are not busy on all of the above.... so..... what's up?

Patch Linden: "There are some other items on deck that I can't discuss at the moment surrounding future plans.  :) " ...

We'll have to do it with that.

If you see a mole in our Fair City, don't forget to take a picture, shake it's paw and give it a worm. (and tell me all about it)

Reporter Marianne McCann, Vick Forcella

190504

This Month In History

History Marianne

Anshe Chung was featured on the cover of BusinessWorld for their May 1, 2006 issue, labelling her as the first person to become a real-life millionaire due to her business in Second Life.

This story helped fuel the first big boom in Second Life, pushing the Grid to see its first million members later that year, and drawing the attention of established national brands to the virtual world.

While most of the big companies have long since left Second Life for other pastures, Anshe Chung remains in Second Life as a successful land entrepreneur to this day.

Reporter Marianne McCann

190504

Epilogue

In May 2008 a crowd gathered at the border of Nova Albion. Something spectacular was going to happen. From afar people tried to look over the bridge to see what was happening but the fog took away the sight.

Then the bridge closed and the crowd started running in. Bay City was opened!

Long before some clever minds were plotting something never done before. Michael and Blue wanted to make something unique. For that they deliberated, plotted and draw up the lines of roads and waterways.

They asked the most clever creators in our world to help out. The clever creators received the name Mole. The LDPW was founded.

They started mining as many prims they could gather so to build the infrastructure of our Fine City. Their secret wasn't unnoticed, word got out and people started asking questions, that were left unanswered. All they could do is wait at the bridge and so they did.

When the crowd raced out over the newly opened bridge they found a beautiful themed city with parks, canals, roads and land that can hold twice the amount of prims.

The lands were sold faster as you can say Bellisseria. Houses and buildings went up in great pace. All within the set theme, 1950's Chicago.

This month we will celebrate the 11th anniversary of our fine City.

Join us!

This concludes the end of this edition.

I want to thank our reporters Qie, TJ, Dakota, Georgiana and Mari for their work. Without them the Bay City Post would be rather empty and boring.

Thank you Roc for hosting the best newspaper in town. Patch for not revealing any secrets. Keira for being Keira. Pygar for reaching out. All the photographers that allowed me to use their pictures.

See y'all soon!

Editor Vick Forcella

190504

Group Sacrifice Inside Mount G'al

For some time now out world doesn't work the way it is intended. Crossing regions, the feed and other things are failing often lately.

Marianne McCann has identified a probable cause about a week ago. We must honour and feed Mount G'al!

For that she called out everybody she knows, even more, to join her in a special, lethal, ceremony. Following are some images and a transcript of Marianne her words. It might be shocking for some (viewer discretion is advised).

A large group of people is gathered inside Mount G'al (because LL still hasn't fixed the lethality of Mount G'al despite my ticket).

Marianne McCann (alive)

In awe we see Marianne dressed in a ceremonial cloak and a burning, smoking, hat on her head.

[12:00] Marianne McCann shouts: My friends, we live in dark times.

[12:00] Marianne McCann shouts: We are gathered this day, atop Mt G'al to do our solemn duty.

[12:00] Marianne McCann shouts: As it was written in the days of Phil, by esteemed explorer Magellan Linden, sacrifices must be made regularly at Mt G'al, lest the Grid face Her wrath.

[12:01] Marianne McCann shouts: The nearby infohub, and New Citizens Incorporated have supplied and prepared fresh noobs for years for this very purpose.

[12:01] Marianne McCann shouts: We live in a time where a great gridquake has seen the continent of Bellisaria rise from beneath the void sea, delivering the promise of new life -- and new noobs -- upon the grid.

[12:01] Marianne McCann shouts: The Great Volcano Goddess, G'al hungers in anticipation — and she rages, finding her fiery stomach, so far, empty.

[12:01] Marianne McCann shakes her arms to highlight her point

The volcano rumbles, the earth beneath our feet trembles.

[12:02] Marianne McCann: Our teleports fail, our region crossings are brutish, and we often find ourselves lost to the grid when we log in.

[12:02] Marianne McCann shouts: Some of us even end up logged out, for no reason, just a few minutes after we enter the world.

[12:03] Marianne McCann shouts: Even now, as we meet this day, the Second Life feeds fail us, leaving us unable to share this glorious moment.

[12:03] Marianne McCann shouts: The skies appear darker, and the stars themselves are like black hole suns.

The volcano rumbles louder, we almost fall due to the trembling.

Tish (Laetizia Coronet) calls out, from her helicopter far above, not to jump and drink tea.

[12:03] Marianne McCann shouts: The Enhancement of our environment is making it difficult to enjoy the wind in our light.

[12:04] Marianne McCann shouts: Today, we meet for the Greater Good!

[12:04] Marianne McCann: The Greater Good!

The group chants loudly "The Greater Good!", "The Greater Good!", "The Greater Good!"

[12:04] Marianne McCann shouts: To each of you assembled here today, I must call upon you to make the ultimate sacrifice for the safety of the Grid -- and take a flying leap!

As in trance we see Marianne jump into the lava....and vanish.... many follow....

[12:05] Marianne McCann left chat range.

[12:05] Vick Forcella: Oh my

[12:05] Robin Sojourner left chat range.

[12:05] Second Life: You died and have been teleported to your home location

[12:05] Second Life: Teleport completed from Mahulu

[12:05] Silvia Hooker (SilviaHedley) left chat range.

Radar

[12:05] T. J. Hooker (ThomasHooker) left chat range.

[12:05] Karin (Karin Sixpence) left chat range.

[12:05] Nivaya Barbosa left chat range.

[12:05] Evola Courtois left chat range.

[12:05] Yeya Zuta left chat range.

[12:05] Anne McMinnar left chat range.

[12:05] Gemma Morland (Gemma Bodenhall) left chat range.

[12:05] Sylvia Templeton Broek (Sylvia Tamalyn) left chat range.

[12:05] Kennylex Luckless left chat range.

[12:05] Vian Magic left chat range.

[12:05] Ik9. (Irishk9 Aeon) left chat range.

[12:05] Dakota Schwade left chat range.

[12:05] Solo Anatra left chat range.

[12:05] Frankie Lindman left chat range.

Solo Anatra made another sacrifice. She went to the Toxic Taco.

For a more complete transcript you can visit Sylvia Tamalyn her Flickr page.

Now that so many have given Mount G'al the ultimate sacrifice we can expect our world to become normal again soon.

Edit to add number one

Check out the sacrifice of Belle Mistwallow.  Jumping into a volcano can be art.

Edit to add number two

Tish (Laetizia Coronet) while hovering, in great danger, above Mount G'al made the following tweet:

"Taking huge risks, the SNG Military Police tried to stop members of the G'al sect from jumping into Mount G'al. Sadly, they blindly followed cult leader Marianne McCann to their death"

Tish attempting to save cult members

 

Reporter Vick Forcella

Images Solo Anatra, Sylvia Tamalyn, Yeya Zuta, Laetizia Coronet, Vick Forcella

190428

Tsunami does not impress

A small rumble of the earth and a tsunami wave of just two feet was all that has hit the South of the continent of Sansara.

An eyewitness described it as "A low sound, just a little louder as the breaking of the waves, came from the ground. I could not feel any ground movement while looking out over the ocean. From where I was the continent is to far away to see anything. I did see an odd flash of blueish light. Soon after the rumble I could see a small wave coming from the South hitting the beach. I was not impressed."

Arrested

Police have arrested the witness because she was at a place that was supposed to be evacuated.

Rumours speak of a man dressed in a protective suit, and a big red beard, that was flying an old airplane South to North. The airplane was making odd movements and left behind a smell that resembles rum.

The anticipated connection between Sansara and Jeogeot is fact.

During the last few months a committee of wise people have been discussing, in secret, the name for this new continent. The name Vicks Continent was oddly rejected, so was Marianneia, Strawberryana and DudeAnthoniana.

Just before the continent was connected to Sansara and Jeogeot the committee released the name "Bellisseria". The motivation they gave was "It looks nice in Italy".

Lighthouse

Linden Lab released a press statement describing the land and it's current buildings. They expect other themes in the future. The continent is intended to be used for housing of new residents. The continent comes with a covenant that is enforceable. For that it is completely different as other continents.

Bridge inspector

Bellisseria is free to visit. There are plenty of hidden spots and meeting places to explore. Parcels are being given to residents when they meet certain criteria. If you want a nice place without the hassle of laying down bricks apply now.

Some residents of our Fine City already have received a home on the new continent. Most intent to use it as a vacation home and will keep their residence in Bay City.

Nature

Now that Sansara and Jeogeot are connected the worry about the Jeogeot colonists is peaking. Already there have been smuggling barges seen transporting milk towards an unknown destination in Bay City. Bread and beans are in low supply.

Lighthouse

Officials request to remain calm but stay on the alert. The situation will be evaluated in about a month to see if secret defensive measures can be throttled down a bit.

Reporter Vick Forcella

Images Marianne McCann, Kennylex Luckless, Fenix Eldrich, Vick Forcella

190416

Bay City opens Embassy in Jeogeot

Our well esteemed citizen Pygar "Snazzeh" Bu, with the full support of the diplomatic service of our Fair City, has opened an Embassy on the continent of Jeogeot in the region Bora.

The embassy is to improve the relation between the residents of the continents Jeogeot and Sansara and give special attention to the fine people of Bay City.

Bay City Embassy

As explained in a previous article the relation is a bit tense at this moment and despite the calming words of our defensive forces there are some citizens of our Fair City that are extremely worried about the expected connection between the two continents.

The embassy tries to explain, in very easy to understand words, that Sansara and Bay City are nice places to visit and should not be smashed.

In a top secret mission (see image) Supreme Commander, General Thomas J. Hooker; Deputy Supreme Commander, General Norbert Ashland; Chief of Staff, Major-General Silvia Hooker and Brigadier General Jack Dalton of the Sansara Expeditionary Forces have visited the embassy. They did not install any monitoring devices or defensive appliances. It is unknown what else they have done while being on the continent of Jeogeot.

Secret mission

Officials continue to stress that there is no need to prepare for the worst. Stockpile bread and milk, cans of beans and corned beef. Clean up our life shelter, fill the water tanks with fresh water.

There is no threat coming from Jeogeot and the chances of something bad happening is extremely low.

The area around Iridium remains evacuated due to the imminent thread of a tsunami when the continents are connected. Please stop rezzing your beach stretchers there.

Our reporters will continue to monitor the situation and when calamity happens we will inform you some time after the events as soon as we can.

Reporter Vick Forcella

Images Pygar Bu, TJ Hooker

190415

Bay City Post, edition 74

As I was cleaning the offices of the Hyperbole building I arrived at the vacant premises of the Bay City Post. After I scrubbed and cleaned the place I tried out some of the chairs, they sit very comfortably. I looked around and found empty coffee cups with black stains, dustbins still filled with scrapped paper, a telephone that was ringing all the time. As janitor I wasn't allowed to answer phones but I did it anyway.

security cam footage

It was an angry resident complaining about a not delivered newspaper. I tried to tell her, it was a she (I won't reveal your name Sylvia), that there were some logistical problems and that we probably didn't have her address correctly listed. I invented that answer all by myself.

I took her address and put it on the desk of the editor. Then I realized that there is no editor, no staff and no newspaper. Nobody would read the message I just wrote down.

Looking around I could see the potential and the idea of becoming the editor popped into my mind. Quickly I went home, grabbed my tool-belt and installed new locks. If ever Roc would ask I could tell him there was a burglary and that I had to replace them, not so far from the truth.

The next day I called around some mates and friends and asked if they could help out, setting up a new newspaper. TJ was game immediately, he does anything for a good beer. Qie was skeptical and wanted to write an lsl script to generate articles. Mari just wanted to play with her new drumsticks and destroyed a typewriter. Dakota had too much beer and was later arrested by TJ while she was cruising to make articles.

Michael L. dropped by to say Hi to everybody in Bay City.

Together we started work, getting the addresses right, sending out big invoices, and writing up some real serious stuff.

We had to use a second hand printing press I found at a castle in Zindra. The normal one is too complicated and uses methods that haven't even been invented yet! (what is a laser?)

The press we used is easy to handle, just a drum you turn around by hand. You insert the print from the typewriter, wrap it around the drum, poor in ink, add a stack of paper and swing baby swing!

In practice, for you dear readers, this means no columns but a continues roll of paper, top down till the end. Lucky I found some rulers you can see on the web. With the rulers you can select articles made by a reporter or a different ruler to select articles about a specific subject. I also provide some links in this article.

Covered in ink we came up with this edition. I hope you like it. Please ignore the smudges.

-Vick Forcella

On the web, just read top-down till the epilogue.

In-World follow the links below.

In this edition:

Thank you Kinn!

As You Sow, So Shall You Reap
Qie Niangao shows how to sow grass

Bay City Cruisn'
Dakota Schwade updates the insurance of her car.

The Kaas Factorij
Vick Forcella visits the Kaas Factorij

Police and fire blotter
Thomas Hooker reports the activities of the Police and Fire dept.

Bay City Post Pictures: Eversnight

Picture impression of a catastrophic night, by various photographers.

Epilogue

Last period there were breaking publications.

Service announcement notice

Warning, Ever Night

Stay calm and act normal

Profiles and Google plus

Editor Vick Forcella

190406

Thank you Kinn!

Using this space here I'd like to thank Kinnaird Fiachra.

Kinn took over the Bay City Post from interim editor Marianne McCann in March 2016. Before that she was was an active Police and Fire Blotter reporter.

It must have been quite a challenge for her to take over a newspaper that is littered with fires and calamities.

She took off like a rocket, publishing articles month after month, inspiring co-writers to do the same. Cleaning the newspaper with incorrect links she changed the newspaper to be current, up to date and filled with plenty of things to do and see.

The residents had no idea the effort it takes to do all those jobs, and live a real life as well. We, the residents, relied on the newspaper to arrive on our doorstep each month to provide us with the latest gossip.

She guided us to the vibrant Bay City Community and made us all participants.

I want to thank you Kinn for all the work you have done for the Bay City Post, laying the solid foundation of this newspaper. Bay City would look very different without you.

When you read this Kinn, I hope we make you proud.

Reporter Vick Forcella

190406

As You Sow, So Shall You Reap

In this column five years ago, in April 2014, I wrote "The Unworkable Workaround" about a bug, already very old at the time, affecting Linden grasses and groundcovers, and my unsuccessful attempt to find a workaround. After all this time, just last month I happened to buy some land where I really needed a workaround to this same bug -- with similarly unsatisfying results. I wrote the details in "I hate group abilities" on the LSL Scripting forum:

//quoted section

Back in 2012, the five Linden Library "groundcover" plants all took to transmogrifying themselves into one ("Grass - tall 1") when the sim restarts. This is pretty annoying because those 1 LI plants, limited as they are, have the very special property of matching the (dynamic) terrain however complex its shape, so there are applications for which there's no practical substitute.

So the problem is how to uproot the contaminated instances and replant them whenever the sim restarts. We can know the plants' UUIDs from the replanting script's object_rez() event, and the uprooting script can llReturnObjectsByID() each of the contaminated ones. Why separate scripts? Well, llReturnObjectByID() only really works when owned by the landowner (so the uprooting script needs to be owned by the landowner), and objects owned by the landowner cannot be returned* so the plants need to be owned by somebody other than the landowner (so the planting script needs to be owned by that non-landowner). And that non-landowner must have the ability to rez Linden plants on the land.

Does anybody see a problem?

[Note: This is as far as I got in 2014. It seemed impractical to have the scripts owned by these two different accounts with different group roles. But turns out there's one more twist beyond "impractical"...]

The non-landowner may have the group Ability to rez Linden plants on group-owned land -- indeed, the group may even grant that Ability to the Everybody role -- but the sim doesn't recognize that scripts owned by that agent set to that group have that Ability unless that agent is present on the sim. So our planter scripts will try unsuccessfully for days to rez a Linden plant until the script owner teleports to the region when it will successfully plant as many as it wants.

Usually we get around this "need to see the agent to know her script's group Abilities" by deeding the scripted object to group, but a nasty Catch-22 in this case: if the object is deeded to the landowning group, objects it rezzes can't be returned by script.

__________

*except by a script in the object itself, and Linden plants can't be scripted.

//end of quoted section

This "working" workaround, then, involves my "sower" alt visiting the restarted sim after my "reaper" script has removed the contaminated plants. It's kind of amazing to watch: as soon as he's teleported into the sim, his sowing script starts rezzing out the Linden groundcovers it was prevented from doing until the sim could confirm by his mere presence that his abilities include rezzing of Linden plants.

Reporter Qie Niangao

190406

Bay City Cruisn'

It's been quite a while since I have been on the road, wandering Bay City and seeing the sights.

In preparation for getting back behind the wheel I felt that a driving refresher course was in order, and getting some up-to-date vehicle insurance for my red Primouth drop top.

Perhaps I should have checked out the reviews of this place beforehand ...

1 - Bay City DMV and Driving School and Insurance Agency

Bay City - Dennis

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bay%20City%20-%20Dennis/47/90/25

This is a former "business" of beloved Bay City resident Ever Dreamscape.

Ever's Night, held annually on April 1st, celebrates her life and her tendency to set parts of Bay City on fire, whenever and wherever that possible.

That's it for this report. Once I get the self-inflicted dents in my Primouth fixed, I'll be back cruisin' through Bay City.

I hope to see you on the road. Happy motoring!

Reporter Dakota Schwade

190406