The end of another year is approaching, bringing with it a time of reflection as we look back over the old before pausing to await the arrival of the new. It’s become something of a tradition in these pages for me to offer a summary of the year as recorded in this blog, and offer a chance to revisit the ups and downs and the good and the bad the last twelve months have brought us. And so it is for 2018, starting with January through June.
July to December is available here.
Note that this summary isn’t supposed to document everything that happened through the year, but is intended to be a highlight some of the more notable events reported on through these pages. In addition, and for a more detailed look at the various technical and Lab-driven updates to Second Life, please refer to A look at Second Life updates in 2018.
January
Second Life
I started the year with a look at Tyche Shepherd’s end-of-year Grid Survey report for 2017, which saw the grid contract by 4.0%. R. Crap Mariner joined the blog as a guest writer, with a regular series through the first half of the year covering dance in Second Life.
Tech and Viewers
Catznip was the first major viewer release for 2018, with the arrival of the shopping-focused R12. Firestorm issued version 5.0.11.53634, with lots of content creation goodies. Linden Lab released the 64-bit version of the official viewer, together with an update on plans for Linux. As the Alex Ivy release saw Linux removed as a viewer download option, the Lab re-issued their last stable Linux viewer version
My Second Life
I took to the air in the CLSA Fairey Gannet, a bargain for military flyers at just L$10. brightened the skies of my Second Life with Stevie Davros’ clouds and skies.
Travel and Arts
| January Travels | January Art Reviews |
| Brand New Colony (closed) | The Listening Room |
| La Vie (closed) | Cica Ghost Bird People |
| R.A.H.M.E.N.L.O.S. | Gem Preiz – Sapiens |
| Ivy Falls | Gallery Cecile |
| Thor’s Land | MetaLES closure |
| Oh Deer (closed) | Dreamer’s Feelings |
| Neverfar (closed to public access) | Bryn Oh: Lady Carmagnolle / 26 Tines |
| Flying Coyote River | MOSP |
| Les Reves Perdus | Nitroglobus: Cold Frog |
Sansar
Linden Lab launched the Sansar Top 5, a video review of popular experiences on the platform, and took the platform to the 2018 CES alongside Intel. With the announcement that 2018 work would start to focus on user acquisition, I had a few thoughts.
Sansar Travel
My visits for the month encompassed Whystler’s The Bridge Room and Whyst Garden; Aech’s Garage; C3rb3rus’s 2077; and Anu’s Copper Valley.
Linden Lab
In something of a shock announcement, the Lab’s Director of Global Communications, Peter Gray, announced he was leaving for pastures new.
Space and Astronomy
I marked the sad occasion of the passing of John Young; looked at the ups and downs of China’s space programme – together with the first of many pieces on exoplanets; examined lunar lava tubes and commercial gamesmanship; and looked towards the maiden flight of the Falcon Heavy while also returning to TRAPPIST-1.
February
Second Life
February marked the annual Mole Day event in Bay City, recognising the work of the LPDW – the Linden Department of Public Works, and the annual One Billion Rising event, which I previewed.
Tech and Viewers
Second Life had its first major DDoS attack for 2018 and I reviewed the latest iteration of the 360-snapshot viewer.
Travel and Arts
Sansar
The Find and Connect release deployed, focusing on making it easier to find others in Sansar, together with assorted content creation and avatar updates and communication improvements were outlined.
Sansar Travel
I only visited a single experience during February: Eternity by C3rb3rus.
Linden Lab
Bjørn Laurin, formerly the Vice President of Product at Linden Lab, departed the company to join HTC Vive.
High Fidelity
I caught up with HiFi’s commerce plans, including the HFC and wallet,
Space and Astronomy
The hunt for exoplanets took a turn with the first discovery of planets in another galaxy, while it was suggested Russia might enter the space tourism market; the SpaceX Falcon Heavy launched while the USA indicated it wants to cease ISS operations at the end of 2025; I caught up with rover operations on Mars then reviewed NASA’s 2019 budget and SpaceX’s attempt to catch part of a Falcon 9 in a giant sea-going net.
March
Second Life
The major news for the month was the Mainland price restructuring. The 2018 Really for Life season was announced, and Linden Realms was overhauled. Linden Lab also issued a blog post highlighting 15 initiatives for Second Life to mark the 15th anniversary.
In my ongoing series of SL related tutorials, I offered a guide to creating Place Pages following further updates to the service.
Tech and Viewers
Chorazin Allen announced he’d be taking the lead on Kokua development. I offered an update on SL’s move to the cloud, based on comments from Ebbe Altberg and Oz Linden, as well as providing a Place Pages tutorial.
My Second Life
We started March with a little golf at Angel Manor.
Travel and Arts
Sansar
March brought the Bust a Move release and a glimpse of the interactivity and access control roadmaps for the platform, while the middle of the month brought updates for Sansar events and new diagnostic tools for creators.
Sansar Travel
The Drew Struzan Gallery and Studio opened, as part of the Hollywood Art Museum, as did Aech’s Basement, a further Ready Player One experience.
Linden Lab
The 2018 VWBPE event took place, including an informal discussion with Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg on SL and Sansar, and I produced a transcript and summary with audio extracts.
Space and Astronomy
Curiosity’s drill, Proxima b and and Stratolaunch start the month’s look at space and astronomy, followed by reborn stars and air-breathing engines. There was the sad news of Stephen Hawking’s passing, while water appeared to be everywhere.
April
Second Life
2018 Fantasy Faire marks the start of a new chapter in the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) work, in which fund-raisers are allowed to earmark donations for a special project they have chosen to support. To mark this, Fantasy Faire elected to support the Kenyatta National Hospital Hope Hostel. I also previewed the Fantasy Faire LitFest.
Linden Lab announced that start of a new Second Life Town Hall series, and I produced a transcript of the event. Later in the month, Grumpity Linden provided more information on changes to Premium subscriptions.
A 15th anniversary infographic was released.
Tech and Viewers
Kokua issued their first major update since Chorazin Allen took the lead.
My Second Life
I took to the air with the ReneMarine Ask 13 sailplane, and a modified Fallingwater arrived at Isla Pey.
Travel and Arts
Sansar
April brought the Slip, Slide and Sit release, allowing avatars to sit on the ground. The first link-up with Ronddenberry Entertainment: The Bridge of the USS Enterprise.
Linden Lab
The Lab issued two updates on the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) see: Linden Lab highlights GDPR – coming into force on May 25th 2018 and Lab issues a further e-mail on EU GDPR and user privacy.
Space and Astronomy
China’s Tiangong-1 laboratory re-entered Earth’s atmosphere. I looked at space tourism and explanets and Charon. Kepler’s successor took to space.
May
Second Life
Ebbe Altberg gave an interview to Designing Worlds, discussing the future of Second Life, and I provided a transcript. I visited Ajuda SL Brasil, the Brazilian / Portuguese Community Gateway.
Our Digital Selves premiered. Bay City turned 10 years old, and RFL saw the 2018 SciFi Expo and Home and Garden Expo take place.
Tech and Viewers
Kokua released an Alex Ivy based 64-bit viewer.
My Second Life
I wrote about my recent experience with breast cancer, in the hope of encouraging others not to hide from the risk of discovery.Given the arrival of GDPR, I updated this blog with a privacy statement outlining potential data collection related to visiting this blog, and the data holders.
On a brighter note, I picked up the Bandit SRV210 speedboat, the Honeybadger hovercraft and provided a tutorial on using projectors to create “mirrors”. May also saw me try a video capture update,
Travel and Arts
Sansar
May brought the VR Chat release, complete with Twitch integration.
Space and Astronomy
InSight launched to Mars – it would arrive in November while NASA contemplates sending a helicopter to Mars in 2020. Experts expressed doubt over turning space station operations to commercial use.
June
Second Life
Linden Lab announced private region holders could restart their regions via the web, before going on to announced a major restructuring of private region pricing.
The 15th anniversary celebrations for Second Life opened, and Linden Lab announced their own celebratory events while Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg offered a video greeting to mark the event. I took a look at some of the art of SL15B, wrote about some of the private exhibitions and also at a couple of the stages.
Tech and Viewers
An error in the viewer updater code meant that for a time the 32-bit version of the viewer would get caught in an update loop. To overcome this, the Lab temporarily issued the “unloop viewer”. The news got more exciting with the announcement NASA had potentially found organic molecules on Mars; the Juno mission gained an extension.
On a brighter note, Animesh reached release candidate status on Agni on the main grid.
My Second Life
I offered a personal ad for my landscaping service.
Travel and Arts
| June Travels | June Art Reviews |
| Woods Club | Gallery Mirror |
| Cape Florida (closed) | Rose Gallery |
| Devin’s Eye | Fractal Insanity |
| Oboeru | Heights of Haven |
| Eclipse Tiny Place (closed) | Cica Ghost: Sunny Day |
| Eri-Ador | DiXmiX: A. DeLauren; Kimeu Korg; Kato Salyut |
| Zion National Park (closed) | Classical and Surreal Sculpture |
| San Monique (closed) | Salt |
| La Clef des Champs | Serena Imagine: Barbara Borromeo |
| The Vault | National Museum of Caledon: Darlingmonster Ember |
| Aphantasia (closed) | |
| Chouchou |
Sansar
June saw the release of the Know Thy Neighbour update.
High Fidelity
High Fidelity announces it had raised a further US $35 million in funding.
Space and Astronomy
NASA recovered drilling capabilities on Curiosity while Virgin completed the 2nd powered flight with VSS Unity while I examined neutrinos. June saw the start of a major dust storm on Mars and the discovery of possible organic molecules on the planet. News also came that Ceres may be home to the building block of life.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 
… and I hope to be back at some point with a new series of group interviews and maybe a review of what it took to learn Spot On Choreography.
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I certainly hope you are; the dance series has been popular since its inception 🙂 .
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