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January 2023

BBB3B | News about Bonniebots | Linden Homes Stats | Meet the Ambassadors | Events & Announcements | New Locations

BBB3B

The first of our passports was issued in January 2020 to our founder, Boo Rojyo. So the BBB is three years old this month. Last year we celebrated BBB2B at the Bellisseria Fairgrounds, but this year the occasion is passing off more quietly.

We're not allowing it to pass unnoticed however. If you visit BBB HQ you will find a special event stamp terminal on the garden terrace to the rear where you can obtain an elegant commemorative BBB3B stamp for your passport.

BBB BBB3B Event Stamp HQ_001

And, as they say on the shopping channels, there's more! You can collect different celebratory stamps at each of the Continental Embassies. All the SLURLs you need are in today's New Locations section (below). They'll also be – of course – on your StaFi HUD. So why not see who can be first to collect them all? Let us know in the comments as soon as you've done so. Your date-stamped comment will be proof of your achievement. 

Screenshot 2023-01-26 at 13.53.23

We at the BBB and CPCB are volunteers. Nobody here makes a Linden penny from our work. We do what we do just to make Second Life® more entertaining and to encourage people to explore this wonderful metaverse of ours. Our stamps are to be found all over the grid. We're happy that our passports are now available to everyone in SL so even more people can join in the fun of touring SL and collecting the stamps to prove it.

Happy birthday to us! We thank you for all your enthusiastic support over the past three years of bureaucratic hijinks. Here's to the next year, and beyond.


NEWS ABOUT BONNIEBOTS

Last week we reported that the BBB is working with the team behind the Bonniebots to use their systems to track our stamp terminals in-world. That way – even if it slips the mind of a landowner to tell us about a moved or deleted terminal – we can keep the Gazette Online Travel Guide (GOTG) and our in-world StaFi (stamp finder) HUD up to date. 

As last week's issue went to press – sooner than we expected – the new system went live. Our stamp team has now toured the locations it flagged up and updated our publications.

Screenshot 2023-01-22 at 04.51.30
The BBB Stamp Terminal Status Page

We would like to thank the Bonniebots team for their prompt assistance. A link to the stamp terminal status page is now in the sidebar to The Gazette. Our stamp team will monitor it regularly for any changes.

Please check out the Bonniebots' website. You may be surprised what you can learn from the up-to-the-minute, publicly-available data they've collated there.

We are aware the SL Forums have been full of animated discussions about the Bonniebots. Some Residents have expressed concerns and the Lindens have taken an interest. New World Notes reported on Wednesday that Patch Linden – following his own comment on the forums –  met with the Bonniebots team to discuss the service and Residents' privacy concerns.

At that meeting, the Bonniebots team agreed to alter their system to provide certain opt-outs. Until those are in place, they have suspended the avatar search function and removed merchant names from the MarketPlace sales rankings. 


LINDEN HOMES STATISTICS

Linden Home Image from LL

People often ask statistical questions about Bellisseria...such as… “How many regions do we have?”, “How many Bellisseria homeowners are there?”, “How much of Bellisseria is unoccupied?”, etc. Now with the aid of the Bonniebots (see previous article) some of this information is finally available.

Lets start with the big picture. As of 5:30 am on January 24th, there were a total of 38,178 Bellisseria homes and 41,724 of the pre-Bellisseria old-style Linden Homes. Of those, 30,616 Bellisseria and 15,103 pre-Bellisseria homes were occupied. That means that 7,562 Bellisseria homes were unoccupied, giving a vacancy rate of almost 20%.

We can't be really specific about Houseboats, Trads and Campers because these three styles are often mixed together on the same subcontinent. Bonniebots report their findings by regions (some of which are mixed) and in summary by subcontinent.

We can determine however that Houseboats, Stilts and Victorians are among the most popular, with a low vacancy rate. As Trads infrequently appear on the Land Page, we can safely assume they are also popular. Trads are mostly on the Old Belli, Squishy Pickle and Pickle subcontinents, which all have extremely low vacancy rates.

The Chalets and Fantasy Homes had the highest vacancy rates (52% and 55% respectively) and Sakurasseria was close behind with 49% vacancy. You could probably have gathered that from the Land Page, because there are always Chalets, Fantasy and Sakura homes available. However you might be surprised to learn that, while Newbrooks are usually available, only 25% of them are unoccupied).

Our source for this article is this Bonniebots page. Please be aware that this is dynamically updated on a daily basis so numbers will change from day to day. Here is a screenshot of the summary report at the time of writing.Bonniebots bellihomes summary

Article & Photograph by Teresa Firelight


MEET THE AMBASSADORS: YUKIKO YESHTO

Yuko_002 (2) with frame
We are continuing our series Meet the Ambassadors, in which we interview each of them so you can get a feel for who they are and what they do. This week we meet Yukiko Yeshto.

Yukiko was the ambassador to Sansara at the time of this interview. She has had some demanding RL stuff come up that makes it necessary for her to step down at the end of her first one-year term. She has done an outstanding job and this interview covers her term of office.

What SL Continent are you an Ambassador for? And where can people find your embassy?

I am Ambassador for Sansara and the embassy can be found in the Hennepin region.

Please share your favourite thing about this continent.

Sansara is the oldest Mainland continent. It has quite a few historical locations to discover, many active communities and beautiful spots to visit. You can hang out there or live in (and be a part of) them. Sansara also offers a huge winter area named 'the Snowlands'.

Do you have suggestions for places to visit in your Continent?

There are too many to pick from! I'd always recommend you start by traveling along the protected routes and coasts. The best surprises come when you stumble over a hidden gem. Sansara has many of those. 

When you explore, please be careful not to enter private homes by accident. Always check the land description to make sure the place is open to the public.

A few of my personal favorite spots include Moorcroft, Bay City, the Snowlands, Chamonix City, Ipperwash Cliffs National Seashore, Sea of Fables, Bay of Space Pigs, Ice Bay, Mare Secundus, The Point West Waterfront, the L-shaped lake and Micronesia, the ANWR Channel (which connects Sansara with Heterocera), and the Gateway International Airport & Axel Harbor (which connects Sansara with Bellisseria).

How long have you been an ambassador now? And what motivated you to become an ambassador?

I started about a year ago. Before that, I was already working with the BBB for passport stamp collection tours, which enhance my Mainland tours.

I considered the Ambassador position as a great opportunity to combine with my intentions of supporting the SL community spirit by offering exploration tours. I see those as one of countless ways to connect with people by sharing an adventure.

What was the most special event you either held at your Embassy or sponsored for your continent?

I struggle to pick something particular because each event and collaboration has been special in its own way. What all the events have in common and what stands out the most for me is the enthusiasm and creativity that each collaborator and supporter put into offering something fun and unique for the SL community. I love the sparkling joy that each attendant brought to and spread at the events, and the many friendships that have grown over time. It's the shared community spirit that makes every event special.

What is your favorite thing about Bellisseria that you tell residents of your continent?

Again, I struggle to pick favorites, because there is too much to choose from! But I would have a few recommendations as a starting point. For Linden Home owners, especially first-time home owners, I'd recommend the Parade of Homes as a source of inspiration for decorating your house and garden. If you enjoy exploring, join travel groups, visit homes open to the public like cafés, or stop by the themed community centers. Another fun activity is to go on the hunt for the easter eggs hidden by the Moles.

You can learn something about SL history, too (Magellan anyone?), or experience a surprise. For example, have you found out about the talking stone's secret at Molehenge yet? And, of course, you can collect stamps with your BBB or CPCB passport. As an avid traveler, I also enjoy the fact that Bellisseria connects all the Mainland continents.

What do you like to do in your spare time (or when you are not busy with your ambassador duties)?

My spare time activities actually don't differ much from what I usually do. I enjoy exploring, creating, brainstorming event ideas, and connecting with other residents and communities.

Tell us one thing about yourself that most people do not know.

I would have a hilarious answer to that but it has to remain a secret until the end of my SL days, I'm sorry.

Do you have anything else you would like to share?

I'd like to thank each and every one who puts their time and effort into making the SL community thrive and prosper. It doesn't matter how big or small your contribution is, if you are an event organiser or participant, location owner or visitor, or whatever other constellation you could think of. Every little spark of joy counts, and I'm looking forward to make more lovely memories with the community!


EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

If you have one of our stamp terminals at your place and you're having an event there or would like to make any other announcement, just let us know and we'll be happy to feature it here. Please drop a notecard on the Editor Dave (Lord.Junibalya) in-world or use the Email the Editor link in the sidebar to send us your information, posters or photos.

Bearpaw Tour in Mt Campion National Park

Mount_Campion_Bearpaw_Tour

The Embassy of Bellisseria to Heterocera invites you to a new nature tour in the Mount Campion National Forest. 

On Saturday, 11 Februrary 2023 at 12 noon SLT, a guided tour will follow the paths of the ancient Bearpaw tribe. The tour takes about 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) to complete. It visits several parts of Mount Campion National Forest as it traces the migration of the Bearpaw tribe from the flatlands to the higher elevations. It will tell the story of how and why this tribe migrated and it will take you to a number of breath-takingly beautiful locations in the park. And if you are a BBB or Continental Passport holder, there are two passport dispensers along the route where you can collect some passport stamps.

The tour will be guided by a ranger, giving explanations. Please join us at the meeting point a few minutes in advance of the start time. 

******

New Parade of Homes change form

You can now modify your entry in the Parade of Homes database easily using this change form. It will allow simple changes to your entry. It also now displays some typical use cases for a simpler understanding.
 
Applying for seasonal category entries • Easter (Mar..Apr) • Halloween (Oct..Nov) • Xmas (Nov..Jan) using the change form will create a duplicate of your permanent entry – just with different photos! Seasonal deco entries will be auto-removed without affecting your permanent listing.
 
Entries listed for the Christmas seasonal decorations section have now been auto-removed. If your permanent entry is missing, sending in the change form will "restore" the entry with different photos.
 
*****SL PoH OH welcomes

... Fay Starlight's Tumbletown Falls
est. 1/2023
Hidden behind the Drunken Mouse Pub, lies a hidden falls where a little chalet stands deep in the forest!

exterior interior deco

... Gingir Ghoststar's Linden Newbrooke Modern Home
est. 11/2021
I'll be moving at the beginning of March, so come see before I move again!

exterior exterior interior deco

NEW LOCATIONS

The Baseball Exhibit Gallery and Museum is at Sekmet on the Continent of Satori. Having visited both the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the Field of Dreams Movie Site in RL, we can say this SL version captures the spirit of America's Pastime well.

The rest of the new stamps available this week are all time-limited editions in celebration of the BBB's 3rd Birthday (BBB3B), as explained in our leading article (above). Enjoy collecting them all and, once more, thanks for your support of our recreational bureaucracy during the last three years. We hope you've had as much fun carrying our passports and other bureaucratic products as we have had making them for you.

If you have friends who don't have a passport yet, your visits to our HQ and embassies to collect the stamps will be a perfect opportunity to sort that shameful situation out. If they live in Bellisseria, teleport them to our HQ and help them fill out the application form for the full-on bureaucratic experience. If they live on another mainland continent, teleport them to the relevant embassy and they can get one – fully-automated – there and then. If they're rich and live on a private island (or poor and homeless) tp them to any embassy and they can immediately get the generic SL passport.

The fun of exploring our virtual world and collecting stamps to show the cool places you've been is open to everyone in SL. All your friends can be "victims" of the gentlest, kindest bureaucracy ever!

Baseball Exhibit Gallery and Museum ST BBB Stamp Locations 21 Jan 23.003 Screenshot 2023-01-19 at 09.41.14
BBB3B Event Headquarters BE BBB Stamp Locations 29 Jan 2023.002 HQ
BBB3B Event Sansara SN
BBB Stamp Locations 29 Jan 2023.003

Sansara
BBB3B Event Satori ST BBB Stamp Locations 29 Jan 2023.004 Satori
BBB3B Event Heterocera HE BBB Stamp Locations 29 Jan 2023.005 Heterocera
BBB3B Event Jeogeot JE BBB Stamp Locations 29 Jan 2023.006 Jeogeot
BBB3B Event Corsica CA BBB Stamp Locations 29 Jan 2023.007 Corsica
BBB3B Event Nautilus NA BBB Stamp Locations 29 Jan 2023.008 Nautilus
BBB3B Event Gaeta GA BBB Stamp Locations 29 Jan 2023.009 Screenshot 2023-01-26 at 14.13.54

Meet the Ambassadors: Bel | Bonnie Bots | Events & Announcements | New Locations

MEET THE AMBASSADORS: BEL

We are continuing our series of Meet the Ambassadors. We interview each of the ambassadors so you can get a bit of a feel for who they are and what they do. And this week we will meet Jezebel (Bel) Bailey, who is our newest ambassador. She has taken a few months to really become familiar with her continent and has become passionate about it.

Jezebel Bailey (2)

What SL Continent are you an Ambassador for? And where can people find your embassy?

I am the ambassador for Jeogeot, and you can find my embassy here

Please share your favorite thing about this continent

There are several areas of Jeogeot that I really enjoy. I particularly like the geometry of how Jeogeot was constructed – it is perfect. We have plains along the coastal waterlines, hills in the center landmass and isolated mountains. The ocean floor provides slopes, sand, and oceanic vegetation. It is like a painter's canvas, and it has so much that can be imagined and completed.

Jeogeot was the 3rd continent built, and is known as being the last in the 'Old World'.

Do you have suggestions for places to visit in your Continent?

Pyri Peaks is a great place to visit. It is like taking a walk down the rabbit hole with Alice. Start your journey going through the train tracks into red pulsing light and follow where it takes you. But be careful, as you may run into Explosives that the moles left from when they were building.

As you explore more thoroughly, be careful of moving objects like drifting stones. Come visit for further exploring. We also have an active (semi) volcano.

How long have you been an ambassador now? And what motivated you to become an ambassador?

I have been an ambassador for 4 months. I was previously associated with the BBB, and recently came back to it. This time I wanted to contribute in a different capacity. And the role of Ambassador was perfect for me.

What was the most special event you either held at your Embassy or sponsored for your continent?

I have started Jeogeot Citizens Group, and recruited one of Jeogeots as a co-owner and co-leader. This will help build community among the Jeogeot residents, and I am looking forward to seeing this unfold.

My favorite embassy event was dancing in a beautiful garden area that Boo built for my inauguration ceremony. We all enjoyed the dance so much we stayed there all day.

What is your favorite thing about Bellisseria that you tell residents of your continent?

I love Bellisseria -- it is what made me continue as a premium member. I love the attractions and sights that Linden Lab has put into Bellisseria. I also love that all SL residents can visit and enjoy them, because you don’t have to be a premium member to visit and enjoy the public Bellisseria areas. I love the community that has been built around Bellisseria. In fact, that community is what originally attracted me to the BBB.

I also love that Bellisseria is an option rather than something forced on premium members – because they can spend their land allowance on mainland if they prefer. So the people who live in Bellisseria live there by choice.

What do you like to do in your spare time (or when you are not busy with your ambassador duties)?

I play cards a lot because my sl partner enjoys that. In my other life, I have been building a new addition to the house. I also help take care of and spend time with an elderly lady who got Covid and Shingles and just needed a little support, I help others around the lake and just LOVE where I live.

Please tell us one thing about yourself that most people do not know.

I may take a long time to get things done but its usually worth the wait.

Do you have anything else you would like to share?

Here is it – a brand new year. I plan to host events in the Jeogeot Garden and learn more and become more active both in Jeogeot and the BBB. Secondlife is an endless experience of changing ideas and creativeness. If you can imagine it, it can be done.

Article & Photo by Teresa Firelight


BONNIEBOTS 

The BBB recently came into contact with a team of Second Life® residents who are releasing some interesting tools for finding unoccupied Linden Homes, abandoned land, sandboxes etc. Their product is a great addition to the BBB Home Finder HUD, which finds vacant Linden Homes in Bellisseria.

The team is using a special technique they call Bonniebots. As they explained it to me;

The Bonnies are all bots that collectively visit every region at least once per day to gather publicly available information and display it on our website for anyone who is interested. We try not to stick around for too long so we're usually in and out in about 20 seconds!

The data includes popular and trending regions with higher accuracy than the Lindens "dwell" stat offers plus popular and trending attachments, abandoned land on the mainland (to help ordinary users level the playing field with the land barons who have private bots), marketplace purchases, and a text search for profiles of users active within the last few weeks to help find like minded people.

We've recently added a search feature for Linden Homes, which may be of specific interest to residents of Bellisseria, along with a few high level statistics on home ownership for the data nerds out there. You can find the Linden Home search feature here

The idea is that SL is huge, like really huge, and a lot of people joining or returning after being gone a long time might not necessarily know what's up. We hope to alleviate that.

They are keen to stress that, though some people have a knee jerk negative reaction to bots and assume the information gathered will be sold, this is not true.

No information the Bonnies gather is sold, nor is it used for profit in any way. All data gathered is presented on the webpage. It is a completely not for profit project. Some people understandably fear that the Bonnies are stalking them. After all, everywhere you go, there they are. However they have no way of actually doing that. Besides, it would be a waste of the project's resources. If a bot was stalking someone, it wouldn't be able to collect grid-wide data

We see these tools as a valuable resource. We may be able automatically to check whether our stamp terminals are still active, for example. We might even be able to detect relocated terminals, which haven't been notified to us (as sadly sometimes happens). We also plan to apply them to the Parade of Homes Listing in a similar way.

Screenshot 2023-01-19 at 17.59.01
A Bonniebots search for our editor pulls together all his SL interests


Applied to the StaFi StampFinder (available from the BBB HQ) and the Gazette Online Travel Guide these tools could prevent disappointments in future when our users teleport to out-of-date locations and so improve the quality of StaFi/GOTG and PoH content.

The BBB is very excited to be co-operating with the Bonniebots team. As they said to us,

The reason behind it is to help Second Life thrive by bringing people together.

We couldn't have said it any better. That's pretty much our own mission statement!

Article by Robert Rhodan 


EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

If you have one of our stamp terminals at your place and you're having an event there or would like to make any other announcement, just let us know and we'll be happy to feature it here. Please drop a notecard on the Editor Dave (Lord.Junibalya) in-world or use the Email the Editor link in the sidebar to send us your information, posters or photos.

 


NEW LOCATIONS

We love a good travel hub location for our passport terminals. Where better to get your passport stamped than at a port or station? We have two new transport locations this week. The first is Fox's Marina at Yurim on the northern coast of Jeogeot, between Bellisseria's Southern houseboats and Fantasseria. It's a GTFO! hub for small ships, helicopters and seaplanes. The second is Smugglers Bluff; an airport on Ice Bay in the Snowlands of Sansara, which is also the home to SL Coast Guard Station Kania.

Finally we have a new location on Bellisseria. The House of Tea & Tarot is a Victorian tea shop so quaint we were tempted to spell it 'shoppe'. As well as enjoying tea and cakes, those of mystical inclination can gain insight into their future with a fully-automated reading of the tarot cards.

Fox's Marina JE BBB Stamp Locations 21 Jan 23.001 Screenshot 2023-01-17 at 09.31.10
Smugglers Bluff Airport Kania SN BBB Stamp Locations 21 Jan 23.002 Screenshot 2023-01-16 at 23.05.39
House of Tea & Tarot BE
BBB Stamp Location House of Tea & Tarot.001 Screenshot 2023-01-19 at 10.02.49

2023 BBB Calendar | Meet the Ambassadors: Freddie | Events & Announcements | Out & About: Butter | New Locations

2023 BBB CALENDAR

The BBB 2023 calendar is available from BBB HQ in Swordfish. You can pick it up from a dispenser sign there. This year's calendar uses the same Media-on-a-Prim (MoaP) technique as the StaFi stamp finder (also available from BBB HQ). The advantage of MoaP is that any updates don't require you to collect a new object. A refresh will always get you the latest version.
BBB Calendar - 1
Please note that the calendar prim is one-sided, so you may need to walk around the rezzed object, or rotate it before attaching it to a wall. Please check the instruction notecard which explains how to enable media if you have not already done so. New photos will be added over time. A refresh will show those on your rezzed calendar, with no further action required.
 
You can also use the calendar in an off-world browser window.
 
While you are visiting us at HQ please note the new improved StaFi (StampFinder) dispenser sign. StaFi is still maintained each week. You can wear it with the wonderful new V3 passport HUD; minimising both so as not to disturb your view. So you can easily rampage through SL on a stamp hunting tour; selecting cute stamps via the StaFi, clicking on its SLURLs to TP there, and then stamping your passport. All now (thanks to the V3 passport) without fear of either losing new stamps during teleports or picking up any duplicates!
 
Article by Robert Rhodan, BBB Stamp Team

MEET THE AMBASSADORS: FREDDIE HARRINGTON

Freddie Harrington
We are continuing our series of Meet the Ambassadors. We interview each of the ambassadors so you can get a bit of a feel for who they are and what they do. This week we meet Freddie Harrington, who is possibly the most musical of the ambassadors. In addition to being an ambassador, Freddie is also an accomplished and popular DJ.

What SL Continent are you an Ambassador for? And where can people find your embassy?

I'm Ambassador for Nautilus and you can find my Embassy here.

Please share your favorite thing about this continent.

Oh, where do I start! I love the sailing, flying, and boating, including the different races and cruises that go on. I really love the surrounding estates and landscaping too. There is always something going on every day. I suspect it's one of the busiest continents.

Do you have suggestions for places to visit in your Continent?

Yes. I have a tour HUD for all the Mole and Linden builds around the continent and I recommend doing those. Also , Nautilus has some under water stuff for the Mers, etc. You can pick these up at my Embassy.

How long have you been an ambassador now? And what motivated you to become an ambassador?

I have been in the position for a whole year now. One of my friends suggested I apply and I was aware of the BBB and what they do, so I thought it would be fun to get involved and meet some new people too. I was a bit nervous as I didn't know Boo or Fiona personally at the time but both are among the best people I have met in-world and all the other BBB crew and Ambassadors are included in that too.

What was the most special event you either held at your Embassy or sponsored for your continent?

In the beginning, I did hold some cruises and parties. But I have found that because Nautilus and Blake Sea are so busy all the time, just getting involved in these activties is a great way to spread the word about what the BBB and Embassies do. I have been involved in putting out the music and even some set up for nearly all the Embassy openings-- but I will be a bit vain and say that my Embassy party was my favorite event on my continent.

What is your favorite thing about Bellisseria that you tell residents of your continent?

I love everything about Bellisseria. I came back to SL after a break of maybe 2 years and got myself one of the old Linden Homes. Then my friend invited me to her houseboat when Bellisseria was smaller. I loved it and I thought, “how do I get one of those?” I had to settle on a Trad though, because homes were in short supply at that time. 

I suggest that people visit one of the many community spaces. My favorites are The Drunken Mouse and Campwich. You can pick up a landmark list from my Embassy, which also includes some fun and also *secret places* in Bellisseria. I do love how easy it is to meet people with shared interests in Bellisseria too.

What do you like to do in your spare time (or when you are not busy with your ambassador duties)?

There are many activities that I enjoy doing in-world. I like to fly, drive, and sail. But I also like to rearrange my furniture, go dancing and get passport stamps. I like to do the “Drivers of SL” drives, and I enjoy taking also cruises by various groups. Sometimes I just want to hang around Bellisseria and chat with friends.

Tell us one thing about yourself that most people do not know.

Oh that's a difficult one.....come back to me later. *winks*

[Since Freddie declined to answer the (above) question, I will share something for him. I had the darndest time getting Freddie to come in for his Ambassador Photo. It turns out that he is a little camera shy and does not enjoy having his picture taken in SL or RL. But IMHO, he is quite photogenic, and has no need to be camera shy.]

Do you have anything else you would like to share?

My bacon sandwich?

Article & Photograph by Teresa Firelight


EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

If you have one of our stamp terminals at your place and you're having an event there or would like to make any other announcement, just let us know and we'll be happy to feature it here. Please drop a notecard on the Editor Dave (Lord.Junibalya) in-world or use the Email the Editor link in the sidebar to send us your information, posters or photos.

Public Service Announcement re stamp applications

When applying for a stamp terminal using the application notecard form in-world, please note that it allows you tell us your ideas as to how the stamp should look. You can also provide any logo you may have for your destination that might inspire our design team in creating your stamp.

If you prefer, you can create your own stamp design to the specifications set out in the form. Remember it should look like a passport stamp! We make exceptions for event stamps, which can be more colourful, but permanent stamps should be in one colour capable of being applied sloppily by a bored bureaucrat using inky rubber!

If you choose to go that route, there is a separate place in the application form to send us your own stamp design. This is a completely separate thing from any logo or other image you may choose to send for inspiration. Please be careful not to confuse the two.

If you don't provide your own stamp texture, our design team will happily create one for you. That's how most of our stamps are made. They will ask for your approval before programming the terminals.

Please remember that the stamp team are (like all our bureaucrats) unpaid volunteers giving cheerfully of their time to provide a free-of-charge service and generally make SL more fun for you and your visitors.

We're proud of our results, which you can check out here.

Robert Rhodan | BBB Passport Stamp Team

***
SL PoH OH welcomes

... Bella Slade's House of Tea & Tarot
est. 1/2023
Victorian Tea House with a magical twist. Enjoy some afternoon tea with a Mole cream puff and a Tarot reading with working tarot cards.

exterior interior deco

OUT & ABOUT: BUTTER

This week, The Gazette's roving photo-journalist visited the Homestead Region of Butter. Its slogan is You Butter Come Back! and the owner, Mona Molinaxil, has done her best to ensure that you will. As she said in the Destination Guide earlier this month;

Things are always changing. New items are added, and areas that I get tired of or don’t like are changed. Being limited by LI limits forces some choices to be made. And that is not a bad thing, really. If you want something new, you might have to remove something old.

So you'll have reasons to go back to see what she's been up to!

The region is a small seaside town with a variety of areas maximising the scenic return from 5,000 prims. It has its own blog, with a handy map.  The blog states definitively that there are no rentals or private areas, but there were ban-lines around the farmhouse during our visit. This is probably the area that the Destination Guide reports is currently closed for construction so should reopen soon. Butter Image

There's a delightful little bistro, with inside and outside seating. The coastline has cliffs, beaches and rocky outcrops. There are a variety of buildings to explore and a campsite too. For SL photographers, it's a succession of excellent backdrops! On our second visit with a photographer friend, she took more photos than we spent minutes!

Chilling in Butter_001
Photojournalism is hard work

It's an ideal, non-commercial, location for one of our passport terminals and we understand the suggestion has kindly already been made by one of our BBBug members so – fingers crossed. Stamp or not, it's well worth a visit.


NEW LOCATIONS

We have two new locations from our friends at The Nature Collective this week. TNC Off the Rails is a railway station and GTFO! Hub in a natural setting that meets the TNC criteria. You are encouraged to:

Come tend to the shared farm/garden, relax at the Railcar Coffee Co., and when you're done, rez your train and explore!

Gallery TNC is located on Route 2 on the Northern coast of Heterocera. It showcases TNC member locations as seen through the lens of artists and photographers.

TNC Off the Rails BBB Stamp Locations 14 Jan 23.001 Screenshot 2023-01-12 at 16.25.40
Gallery TNC BBB Stamp Locations 14 Jan 23.002 Screenshot 2023-01-12 at 16.26.19

Happy New Year | Meet the Ambassadors: Bijoux | Events & Announcements | Out & About | New Locations

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2023TheYearToSee

Happy New Year! 

Someone said that 2023 is the YEAR TO SEE. In this spirit, we hope to see massive improvements in both our RL and SL lifestyles. We can't address the Real-Life improvements here, but we do wish people the best in areas like improved job opportunities, less pandemic sickness and fewer restrictions, etc. But we can take a look at some of what lays ahead for Second Life® in 2023.

Linden Lab has been working hard to make SL more exciting for residents. One of those areas has been in making land ownership more accessible to people with limited finances. They introduced the Plus membership in mid-November of last year, and the expectation is that in 2023 more people will begin to own their own homes on mainland. The Plus membership gives a resident a 512 m2 mainland tier allowance, plus a weekly stipend of L$150. The Plus member can own any size mainland if they are willing to pay the tier for it. The Plus membership is only $5.99 per month or an annual rate of $65.99 per year – substantially less than a Netflix subscription.

Along with that, they lowered the monthly tier price for everyone on the larger mainland parcels, starting with 1/8 of a region (8192 m2) and above. The 1/8 of a region used to be $37.00 US a month, and it dropped to $31.00 US. That is a savings of $6.00 US per month or $72.00 USD per year. This will make it possible for more people to own larger parcels in 2023.

There has also been speculation (and a lot of excitement) that sometime early in this year, LL will make the 2048 m2 Bellisseria homes available to the Premium Plus members. Linden Lab has not said anything definitive on this, but they have dropped a few hints. There is an active thread on the Linden Homes forum on this topic, and from what I can tell, people are very eagerly awaiting this release.

And Linden Lab has announced plans for upcoming non-land improvements to Second Life®. This includes graphical improvements (Physical Based Rendering or PBR) which will allow creators to make some amazing materials in their products. It will even support actual real mirrors that reflect avatars and surroundings. There will also be new/improved capabilities that will allow scripters to give us even more realism and fun gadgets.

We can also look forward to performance improvements, and it should become easier to customize our avatars. Linden Lab also wants to give us new community building tools for specific interest groups, which they are calling new centralised hubs.

As you can see, SL will offer us some great things in 2023.

Article & Photograph by Teresa Firelight


 MEET THE AMBASSADORS: BIJOUX

Ambassadr Bijoux

We are continuing our series of Meet the Ambassadors. We interview each of the ambassadors so you can get a bit of a feel for who they are and what they do. And this week we will meet Bijoux Barr, who is possibly the most artistic of all of the Bellisseria ambassadors.

Here is what she had to say:

What SL Continent are you an Ambassador for? And where can people find your embassy?

I am an Ambassador for the Satori Continent. Our embassy is in the region of Gangkhar at this location

Please share your favorite thing about this continent.

My favorite thing about Satori is its proximity to Bellisseria, Nautilus and the Blake Sea! You can explore the continent through its roads. You can hop on a boat or plane (or any vehicle you want) and then explore away!

Do you have suggestions for places to visit in your Continent?

Here are my Top 2 Places in Satori:

1. Mole Village:

Meauxle Bureaux is the home of the Linden Department of Public Works, a program focused on improvements related to the experience of living in and visiting the Linden Mainland. This intricate build was lovingly crafted by resident experts for all to enjoy, so come see the ultimate in shared creative spaces!

2. GTFO World Headquarters

GTFO World Headquarters, & Drivers of SL HQ. Located just three sims from the Blake on the north edge of Satori. It provides route 8 road access along with boats, sea planes, and aircraft! Come peruse the shops and load up some freight!

When I think of mainland exploration, Bruissac Bay would be the first place I can think of as a starting point. Whether by land, sea or air, a great adventure starts here!

How long have you been an ambassador now? And what motivated you to become an ambassador?

I have been an Ambassador for almost 1 year now. I love what the BBB represents and how each person is fostering Bellisseria and mainland connections. I see the hard work and dedication of the members and staff and it is a joy to have the opportunity to give back or contribute to the team's efforts.

What was the most special event you either held at your Embassy or sponsored for your continent?

The most special event up-to-date for me is the Embassy opening event which we were given the opportunity to hold it at the Belli Fairgrounds. A little bit hard to top that one, but more ideas will come!

What is your favorite thing about Bellisseria that you tell residents of your continent?

It's always been the community in Belli. I love how everyone comes together to celebrate each other, and foster friendship, creativity and music.

What do you like to do in your spare time (or when you are not busy with your ambassador duties)?

If I'm not working in RL, usually I play games, or read, or paint or draw. I was able to grab (hoard really!) a lot of online art courses last Black Friday sale so I'm going through them to further develop my skills in art.

Tell us one thing about yourself that most people do not know.

Gosh this is hard. For those that I am connected to on social media, they would already know. But for the sake of this interview, maybe it's my love for art and music? I grew up in a family of artists, from my grandmother, to my mother, to me, then to my daughter. We immensely enjoy all different aspects of it from traditional painting, pencil art, graphic art, music (my tastes range from classical music to NU Metal), and the spoken word.

Do you have anything else you would like to share?

Our embassy is open to events you'd like to promote in Satori! I'd love to be able to collaborate with the residents, so please feel free to contact me if you have any event you'd like for us to partner with.

Article & Photograph by Teresa Firelight


EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

If you have one of our stamp terminals at your place and you're having an event there or would like to make any other announcement, just let us know and we'll be happy to feature it here. Please drop a notecard on the Editor Dave (Lord.Junibalya) in-world or use the Email the Editor link in the sidebar to send us your information, posters or photos.

News from the Nature Collective

We at The Nature Collective would like to share some exciting news! Due to our unprecedented growth in 2022, we've taken on several additional properties, including TNC Off the Rails in Gluphisia, which offers a DFS Community Garden and also serves as a GTFO! Hub. 

To kick off 2023, we have partnered with the Mainland Community Alliance to bring you Rails, Trails and Sails, a monthly series of explorations across the mainland by land and sea. 

RAILS! sets off from various points along the Linden rail system and travellers can chat, play games, learn about the history of the area, and explore GTFO! hubs. Rides happen the second Saturday of the month at 6pm SLT. 

TRAILS! meets at a different TNC mainland member location on the third Saturday of the month at 6PM. Explorers can ride horses as a group, or bikes or even just walk the trails, as we explore the countryside. 

SAILS! takes off on the fourth Saturday of the month at 6PM SLT from various ports off of SL waterways, with routes created by the SAILS! team. A navigation hud is free for participants of any level of experience, from beginners to experts, and may start and/or end at GTFO! hubs with stops along the way.  

Also new to the TNC events lineup is the Coffee Collective, on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month at 10am SLT.  We will be choosing different TNC member coffee houses to visit for a relaxing and low-key social meet-up.

Additionally, the TNC Book Club has found a home in the Bay City Library! Run by moderators Catori Mistwalker and Ayame Kitsungi-Moon (Stable.Mum), the TNC Book club meets monthly to discuss our monthly reads, and to vote on the next book on the list. Interested book-lovers can reach out to Catori or Ayame for more information. 

We hope you will come to some of our events, and explore all that The Nature Collective has to offer. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, Kestrel Evergarden, at any time.


OUT AND ABOUT

Our thanks to resident Nika Talaj for drawing our attention in the Second Life® forums to the Moles' latest doings at SSPShell Yeah.

Shell Yeah_001 The Gazette Airship_001This new region in Bellisseria is developing into quite the transport hub. As you can see from the Moley-markers in shot, this is still a work in progress. However it already has two airstrips, a helicopter landing pad and two docks – all with the necessary rez zones to make them useful. Our staff photographer launched The Gazette airship from there very comfortably for some aerial shots.

There's also a cool refuelling station and parking places for two further planes.

Shell no mo_002

The complex is in the newest maritime area to the far North of Bellisseria – just across the void from Satori.

Screenshot 2023-01-05 at 15.15.31We won't join in the speculations rife on the forums as to whether our ever-friendly and industrious SL talpidae will connect the waterways/airways of Belli to those of Satori, but hey, those coasts are now tantalisingly close!

The new areas provide interesting opportunities for sea, land and air-based exploration of SL. Check them out but please be careful. Shell no_001We know that the first law of SL aviation is that landings are harder than take-offs, but do try to handle your approach better than this resident did.

At least, if you don't get your landing right, please respect the signage and take your trashed craft home!

Shell no mo_001

Article and photograph by The Gazette staff


NEW LOCATIONS

This week's new location is a boathouse in a gloriously messy and anarchic part of mainland Nautilus. It boasts it serves "all your maritime needs". You can launch your own boat in its Rez Area and it has 7 Seas Fishing. It is also a GTFO! hub for those of you into SL shipping. It's a great place to start your exploration of the local waters and now it offers a very cute stamp for your passport in bright pink ink. 

Baby Shark Boathouse NA BBB Stamp Locations 1 v2.00.001 Screenshot 2023-01-03 at 06.28.09