I've been spending an awful lot of time the past few days, wandering around the SL5B sims, taking in the sights, and enjoying what's on offer. However, I do feel the need to point out some of what I consider to be stylistic faux pas, not because I feel I am some form of God sitting in judgement over you all (although....), but rather to try to make sure to celebrate some of the best exhibits, and give guidance to some of the worst, so they might think twice before doing the same thing for SL6B. With that in mind:

DO... make a professional looking and stylish building, showcasing what you do inworld, like this superb exhibit by the Metaverse Messenger, with sample articles from every year they have been going inworld.


DON'T... chuck a couple of ugly towers up, with massive images, adfarm style, then decide "Sod it, that'll do, let's go down the pub"


DO... use sculpties to create gorgeous things, the likes of which were never possible before, like these almost painfully cute lil animals created by "Have a Happy Mood".

DON'T... slap a bunch of blobby looking sculpties onto your exhibit to act as an entrance, making it look like a giant felt rather unwell, and vomited over the front of your build.

DO... show off how cool the products that you make and sell inworld are, like in the fantastic DCS combat arena, where fighters demonstrate just what the combat system can do in the custom built battle area, along with using the healing hospital table, and training areas.

DON'T... try to cheekily get past the fact that you aren't allowed to sell at the SL5B sims, by offering exclusive weapons, then making everything in your exhibit a landmark giver, that takes you to the place where you can buy these items.

DO... use some glow to make your builds stand out, with an almost magical quality, like this excellent creative piece by the talented Strawberry Holiday

DON'T... use so much glow, that your exhibit happens to blind anyone who happens to glance at it twice.

And above all else....

DO... try to make your exhibit fun and enjoyable for anyone who sees it, like this tribute to the Lindens by Grim Babies, and the detailed and well constructed stand by Rezzables' aways entertaining Greenies

Anyone who knows me, will know that I'm not the sportiest sort. Sitting around watching teams of grown men attempt to take a ball of some nature, from one end of a place, to another end, is okay for the occasional viewing, but hardly a worthy distraction from the games I can play myself. And as for taking part, that would involve being away from comfortable chairs and my intravenous (although sometimes frustratingly laggy) Internet connection. However, there is one kind of exception to my general disinterest in all things sporty. Not sports, but rather sports entertainment. For the uninitiated, I'm talking about professional wrestling.

Therefore, imagine my delight, when wandering around the SL5B sims, to discover an exhibition of wrestling inworld, being put on by SL's very own brand of raw, impact driven, slobberknockery. The superstars of SLCW, or SecondLife Championship Wrestling, flinging each other around the ring, smacking each other with steel chairs (and anyone else who happened to get too close), all for the entertainment of those watching. And since their exhibition was part of the Metaverse TV exhibit, it seems that an audience is not something they are lacking. Intrigued, I decided to seek out the organiser and manager of this inworld promotion, Ivan Halfpint, at his office at the SLCW Arena, to find out a little more about bringing the world of sweat, spandex and suplex's to the virtual world of SL:


Voodoo: So, How did SLCW come about?

Ivan Halfpint: Well basically I have always been a wrestling fan so when I entered SL back in Nov of 07 I looked for wrestling sims. I only found one - and it was basically not holding any matches or doing anything productive - so I offered to help him manage the promotion - it didn’t materialize so I said the hell with it and started my own. Our roots are much more humble than our current setup. We started in a very tiny arena.

Voodoo: Have the logistics of setting it all up been very tough?

Ivan Halfpint: Well it hasn’t been hard at all really - my business partner Alpin Criss developed the wrestling system that we use and it is very fun and always under construction - besides that all we had to do was rent a piece of land and throw up a building.

Voodoo: How does the wrestling system work?

Ivan Halfpint: Basically it is gesture based - Alpin animates the gestures - there is an attack and a 'sell' - so one person picks the move and starts the attack and the person they are attacking is automatically animated to sell the move.

Voodoo: The animations are particularly good. Are they based on rl wrestling moves, from things like the WWE?

Ivan Halfpint: Yes they are all based on wrestling moves that are real - not just WWE - but some have an amateur background - and some are some old style moves that haven’t been seen in some time - both myself and Alpin are fans of old school wrestling - not so much the new WWE stuff.

Voodoo: Have you had a good response from people? Are there a lot of SL wrestling fans?

Ivan Halfpint: It has grown well beyond our expectations - the response has been amazing - we have grown from literally having just a ring in an empty field to becoming the largest fighting promotion in SL - we hold weekly shows and have a weekly TV program on http://www.metaverse-tv.com/

Voodoo: Yes, how did the web TV deal come about? Did they search you out?

Ivan Halfpint: Well it was the oddest thing. I mentioned the wrestling promotion on a web forum and one of the guys from the TV station seen it and thought wrestling on TV would be a good idea. After some meetings we reached an exclusive deal and the rest is history.

Voodoo: If someone wanted to get involved and become a wrestler, what should they do?

Ivan Halfpint: Just drop by the lobby and pick up an application. We are always looking for new talent and it is alot of fun.

Voodoo: And apart from the chance to smack someone with a chair without getting reported for griefing, is there the chance to win anything else?

Ivan Halfpint: It’s non for profit but we do offer a 500L$ pot for the wrestler who has the best match.

Voodoo: Finally, are there any tips you would give to anyone else looking to set up anything similar?

Ivan Halfpint: I would say be aware it is pretty time consuming - so don’t try and do everything yourself cause either #1 it will be done half assed or #2 you will get totally burned out. Besides that just have fun with it - don’t be afraid to try new things - and always have lots of patience - you need it.

Just when you believe Linden Lab the creators of Second Life do not actively listen to the paying residents they never cease to amaze you. Whilst facing one of the biggest PR Disasters of recent times, Linden Lab have taken a miraculously large step back and have reassessed their desire to enforce Dazzle, with no alternative option, upon the residents of Second Life.

As I documented in April, Dazzle caused major concern across the Second Life network. Its bright user interface could be held accountable for eye strain and migraines, also not ergonomically suitable for those users with varying degrees of colour blindness. The complaint was not specifically against Dazzle it was against the inability to easily revert to the old style, or for a user friendly option to skin the client, if Dazzle affected you with the health issues mentioned above. With a massive amount of votes and comments on the two Dazzle specific JIRA entries (VWR-5059 & VWR-5080) it now seems that Linden Lab have actually listened to the worried residents.


In the latest Second Life Blog post Ramzi Linden has announced the release of RC11 with 39 crash fixes and the news that Linden Lab will not ship the Release Candidate until it has working skin-ability.


"To start, we are now developing a solution to VWR-5059 - “Ability to switch between the new/old theme” - and will ship that before finalizing the official Second Life Viewer 1.20.

Therefore, in the coming weeks please look for a couple other iterations of this Release Candidate, but perhaps not as frequently. We will deliver an RC12 and RC13 before finishing this 1.20 Release Candidate cycle."

Linden Lab may have taken their time but I am sure I and the hundreds of non Dazzle supporters are both in favour and in shock at this latest development. Potential PR disaster almost averted.