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Updates for the week ending Sunday, April 26th
This summary is generally published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:
It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
Note that for purposes of length, TPV test viewers, preview / beta viewers / nightly builds are generally not recorded in these summaries.
Official LL Viewers
Current Release version version 6.4.0.540188, dated April 15th, promoted April 20th. Formerly the EEP RC viewer – NEW.
Hubble’s 30th anniversary image: a colour-enhanced view “Cosmic Reef” showing two nebulae – star forming regions – the blue NGC2020 (actually material ejected from a single, massive star 200,000 times brighter than our own), and the red NGC 2014. Both are part of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to ours, 163,000 light-years away. The clarity of the image reveals the star-forming region of HGC 2014 in stunning detail, and offers testament to the deep field imaging capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA / ESA.
On April 24th, 1990, the Space Shuttle Discovery thundered into a spring Florida sky on one of the most important missions of the entire space shuttle programme: the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), one of the four great orbital observatories placed in orbit in the closing years of the 20th century.
At the time of its launch, the telescope probably didn’t surface to any great degree in the broader public consciousness, although in the 30 years it has been in operation it has become if not a household name, then certainly one most people will recognise, even when abbreviated down to just “Hubble”.
April 24th, 1990: space shuttle Discovery rises from Lunch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Centre, carrying aloft the Hubble Space Telescope. In the foreground can be seen the external tank and a solid rocket booster attached to the shuttle Columbia, sitting on pad 39A, as it awaits its own launch date. Credit: NASA
As I noted when marking 25 years of HST operations, Hubble’s roots go well back in history – to 1946, in fact; while the whole idea of putting a telescope above the distorting effects of the Earth’s atmosphere can be traced back as far as the early 1920s. A joint NASA / European Space Agency operation, HST faced many challenges along the road to commencing operations: it’s low Earth orbit – vital for it to be within reach of servicing astronauts – meant it had to face bot extremes of temperature as it orbited the Earth, passing in and out of sunlight, and it would also have to contend with a slow but inexorable atmospheric draft, so would have to be periodically boosted in its altitude.
However, these issues paled into insignificance after HST was launched, when the commissioning process revealed something was badly wrong with the telescope’s optics, resulting in badly blurred images being returned to Earth. The problem was traced back to an error in the production of the 2.4m primary mirror – one side of which has been ground an etra 2.2 nanometres (a nanometre being one billionth of a metre) compared to the other, leaving it “out of shape”. Small as the error was, it was enough to prevent Hubble focusing correctly, leading to the blurred images – and the entire programme being seen as a huge white elephant around the world, despite HST completing some excellent science between 1990 and 1993.
Before and after: on the left, an image of the spiral galaxy M100 taken on on November 27th, 1993, without the corrective optics and camera system. On the right, M100 imaged by Hubble on December 31st, 1993, after the installation of the corrective optics and camera system
Again, as I reported five years ago, the optical error lead to a “Hubble rescue mission” in 1993, when the crew of the space shuttle Endeavour arrived to give HST corrective optics called COSTAR and an updated imaging system, the Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WF/PC). Together these effectively gave HST a corrective set of glasses that overcame the flaw in the primary mirror. In doing so, they assured Hubble’s place in history, as they allowed the telescope to exceed all expectations in its imaging capabilities, turning into into perhaps the most successful astronomical / science instrument of modern times.
When launched, HST could see both in the visible light and in the ultraviolet (the region in which it saw outstanding results even before the operation to correct its “eyesight”). In 1997, during another servicing mission which saw the Discovery return to the telescope it had launched and deployed, HST was given a set of infra-red eyes as well. These allowed it to see farther into space (and thus further back in time) than we’d been able to do previously, and they allowed Hubble to peer into the the dusty regions of the galaxy where stars are born, opening their secrets.
A HST image released on April 6th 2020 showing the barred spiral galaxy NGC 2273, some 95 million light years from our own. It is unusual because it comprises two arms extending from a central bar made up of densely-packed stars, gas, and dust, and which conceal a second set of spiral arms within them, giving the galaxy two pairs of curved arms. Credit: NASA / ESA
Together, Hubble’s various eyes and its science instruments – and the men and women supporting HST operations here on Earth – have given us the ability to look back towards the very faintest – and earliest – light in the cosmos, study star clusters, look for planetary systems around other stars, increase our understanding of our own galaxy, look upon and study our galactic neighbours, help to verify Einstein’s theories of the universe, and do so much more.
Before Hubble, we knew essentially nothing about galaxies in the first half of the life of the universe. That’s the first 7 billion years of the universe’s 13.8-billion-year life. Now Hubble, through remarkable surveys like HXDF [Hubble Extreme Deep Field] capability, has probed into the era of the first galaxies. Through this type of work, Hubble has discovered galaxies like GN-z11, the most distant discovered by Hubble. Just 400 million years after the Big Bang, Hubble is looking back through 97% of all time to see it, far outstripping what can be done with the biggest telescopes on the ground.
– Garth Illingworth, HST project scientist
The Hubble Space Telescope with the aperture door open to allow light into the optics, as seen from the space shuttle Columbia during the 2002 servicing mission
Hubble is a truly unique platform in this regard. Despite issues over the years such as with its various flywheels (the gyroscopes designed to hold it in place whilst it is capturing images), it can remain rock-steady for extended periods with no more than 0.007 arcseconds of deviation. To put this into context, that’s the equivalent to someone standing at the top of The Shard in London and keeping the beam of a laser pointer focused on a penny taped to the side of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, for 24 hours without wavering.
HST’s science mission is so broad, it occupies the working days of literally thousands of people around the globe. Dedicated teams manage the programme for both NASA and ESA, with the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) located at the Johns Hopkins University Homewood Campus in Baltimore being the primary operations centre, supported by the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), Spain, both of which will manage operations with the James Web Space Telescope when it is launched. Beyond these teams, scientists and astronomers around the globe can request time using HST and its instruments for their projects and observations, all of which makes the telescope one of the most used globally.
A visible light image of Jupiter captured by Hubble composited with an ultraviolet image of the planet’s northern aurora. Credit: NASA / ESA
Many of those currently working with Hubble share a unique link to it: they have either grown up with it as a part of their lives, learning about it at school and through astronomy and science lessons, or they been with Hubble since its launch, and have lived their entire careers with it.
Hubble has changed the landscape of astronomy and astrophysics,. It has far exceeded its early goals — no other science facility has ever made such a range of fundamental discoveries. It’s been a privilege to be associated with this effort that has become embedded in the culture of our time.
– Colin Norman, HST manger and senior manager, STScI (1990-2020)
It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.
Sunday, April 26th
14:00: Stories at Kultivate’s Spring Art Show
Kayden, Cale, Willow and Dubhna take the stage on Water Haven as part of Kultivate magazine’s Spring Art show with an hour of stories to amuse and delight. Live on Stream.
18:30: The Secret Garden
Caledonia Skytower continues this classic of children’s literature by Frances Hodgson Burnett, first published in 1911, at the Golden Horseshoe in Magicland Park.
Orphaned after losing her parents in a cholera epidemic, young Mary Lennox returns to England from India, entering the care of her uncle Archibald Craven, whom she has never met.
Up until this point, Mary’s childhood had not been happy; her parents were selfish and self-seeking, regarding her as a burden over which they were not obliged to hold much responsibility. Not overly healthy herself, she is as a result a temperamental, stubborn and unmistakably rude child – and her arrival at Misselthwaite Manor and the relative gloom of Yorkshire’s weather does little to improve her mein.
Her disposition also isn’t helped by her uncle, who is strict and uncompromising, leading to Mary despising him. But her uncle’s story is itself filled with tragedy, particularly the loss of his wife. As she learns more about her uncle’s past, so Mary learns about a walled garden Mrs. Craven once kept, separated from the rest of the grounds and which, since her passing has been kept locked by Mary’s uncle, the door leading to it kept locked, the key to it buried somewhere.
Finding the missing key and the now hidden door, Mary enters the garden, and her passage into it starts her on a journey of friendship and discovery, one that leads her to the thing she never really knew: family.
Monday, April 27th 19:00: The Higher Space
Gyro Muggins reads Jamil Nasir’s 1996 novella that mixes science and magic.
Bob Wilson is a lawyer with a house in the suburbs, a beautiful wife, and a predictable life. Then he agrees to represent a neighbourhood couple in what looks like an open-and-shut custody case.
But no sooner do the Wilsons take in fourteen-year-old Diana Esterbrook than Bob must ask himself some troubling questions. Is Diana a computer genius or a dangerously disturbed adolescent? Why is his house being bugged? Who is the mysterious man in black? And what about Diana’s birth mother, a convicted kidnapper just released from prison?
Wilson’s quest for answers will lead him to an enigmatic private detective, a meek professor with dreams of immortality, and finally to the secrets of a discipline called Thaumatomathematics a strange blend of magic and science where death becomes the key to beatific ecstasy.
Tuesday, April 28th:
12:00 Noon: Russell Eponym, Live in the Glen
Music, poetry, and stories in a popular weekly session at Ceiluradh Glen.
19:00: The The Sleeper and the Spindle
A thrillingly reimagined fairy tale weaving together a sort-of Snow White and an almost Sleeping Beauty with a thread of dark magic, which will hold readers spellbound from start to finish.
On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. She casts aside her fine wedding clothes, takes her chain mail and her sword and follows her brave dwarf retainers into the tunnels under the mountain towards the sleeping kingdom.
This queen will decide her own future – and the princess who needs rescuing is not quite what she seems. Twisting together the familiar and the new, this perfectly delicious, captivating and darkly funny tale shows its creators at the peak of their talents.
With Willow Moonfire.
Wednesday, April 29th, 19:00: A Nun in the Closet
What do two Benedictine nuns, a secretive man-on-the-run, a Tibetan monk, three hippies, members of the Mafia and children of migrant workers have in common? Why, A Nun in the Closet, of course.
When a cloistered monastic community of nuns inherit an old house with 150 acres in up-state New York courtesy of a mysterious benefactor, they are at a loss as to what to do. Sister John and Sister Hyacinthe are therefore dispatched to give the property the once-over and report back. A simple enough assignment, except neither Sister is entirely prepared to deal with all that they find.
From hippies on the lawn to suitcase stuffed with money sitting at the bottom of a well, disguised cocaine and a wounded man who has hidden himself in a closet to avoid Mafia hitmen, not to mention strange apparitions in the night, It might have been better had Sister John and Sister Hyacinthe remained cloistered in the abbey.
But it is amazing what two nuns can achieve armed only with their faith and boundless energy – up to and including a shocking revelation or two about ghosts, gangsters – and murder.
Join Caledonia Skytower as she reads Dorothy Gilman’s 1986 mystery.
Thursday, April 30th 19:00: Stone Angels – Stories of the Gothic South
With Shandon Loring. Also in Kitely – grid.kitely.com:8002:SEANCHAI).
Congratulations to Seanchai Library!
Beginning on March 8th, with the conclusion of their Death on the Nile series, Seanchai library has been accepting donations for Fantasy Faire to both sponsor a region in the Fairelands and to continue to support the matching fund for events. With the help of pledged matching funds from Gloriana Maertens (honoring the late Thea Dea) and Caledonia Skytower (honouring the late Jimmie Warnell) the Seanchai Community not only equalled the funds raised in 2019, but far surpassed it, raising a stunning L$165,000 in just a few weeks.
Fantasy Faire 2020: Isle of Shadows
That’s around US $600, every penny of which will be matched and multiplied – so it could easily become US $1200 – or more. It makes Seanchai Library among the highest paying individual sponsors in Fairelands History. So please be sure to take time yourself this week to visit both Fantasy Faire and the Isle of Shadows, sponsored by Seanchai Library There you will find entertainment and plenty of reasons for you to donate to Relay for Life of Second Life and the global work of the American Cancer Society.
We broke our fast before the Sun had cast its first orange light across the broken walls and towers of Siren’s Lore, our guide having told us we must pass through the the Spirit Valley during the light of day, for our next place of rest lay on the valley’s far side, and at the end of a long journey. And so we passed beyond the wooden pathways of the city across the rugged lands beyond, our guide telling of the first place we would encounter, and how it came to have its mysterious name of Spirit Valley of Kuruk.
His tale sounded both wondrous and fantastical: bear warriors, ancient gods and and transformations. And yet we all knew that the Faireland realms held mysteries and wonders, so it was with excitement rising in my heart that we reached the pass that marked the start of the descent into the valley. At first I saw little worthy of the breathless tales our guide related, the path winding downwards, morning mists hiding the far side whilst fir trees at first screened or view of its deep floor.
Fantasy Faire 2020: The Spirit Valley of Kuruk
But then we rounded a rocky curve and caught sight of the valley’s broad bowl, the path now clinging to the side of its rocky face. But it was not this breath-taking view that held our eyes; for there seated at the side of the road was a great brown bear, it’s fur tufted and arranged around its neck like a collar of office. On seeing it, my kinsmen cried aloud and reached for their bows, but our guide stayed heir hands. Cool black eyes regarded us, and our guide instructed us to pass the bear in single file. As we did so, the great beast raised its forelegs slowly, paws outward as if in blessing as we passed, and I heard the rumble of its voice, chanting deeply.
I could scarce keep my eyes from this marvellous beast until it was carried from view by a bend in the trail; but as I regarded the valley once more, so I saw more of these strange bears, watching us from high perches, including one that stood upon a wooden trestle, banners draped behind it, its fur painted and arranged into a headdress. I found myself caught in the gaze of a great chieftain or perhaps a medicine leader, who watched our progress even to the valley floor.
Fantasy Faire 2020: The Spirit Valley of Kuruk
It was here that we paused to eat, a procession of children marching to us from a nearby village. They bore platters of fruit and jugs of water for us to partake, as our guide informed us these were the Grizzly Cubs, who follow the path of the Great Bear Tribe, and defend the spirits of the valley and its healing ways.
The children said nothing as we ate, but sat with us as we ate. Afterwards, they walked to either side of us as we climbed the long path, passing the painted mouths of caves our guides said we should not enter, least too much time pass and we fail to arrive at the night’s destination at our appointed hour. As we reached the pass that would carry us into the lands beyond the valley, a slender boy came to each of us and indicated we should bow in turn as he painted symbols on each of our foreheads, our guide telling us not to wash or otherwise remove them until after the Sun had set.
Fantasy Faire 2020: The Spirit Valley of Kuruk
Beyond the valley the land changed quickly, rocks giving way to verdant grass and tall trees warmed by a rich afternoon Sun. At length we came to high curtain walls, their stones faced and well-fitted. Guardsmen hailed us from square towers draped with the Banner of Elemaria, and our guide went before us so that we might be allowed access to this walled realm of which I had heard so much.
Formed by the the elements – air, earth, water and fire all working in equal measure at the Edge of Time -, Elemaria lay as the Home of Nature, the elements present throughout its landscape, each having given of its best to create a place wherein harmony rules, and men, women and creatures live in peace, tending the land and creating a kingdom where all can find welcome and peace.
Fantasy Faire 2020: Elemaria
And so we passed along the grass-edged paths and between tiled-roofed homes and stores of Elemaria’s citizens, all of whom greeted us warmly or, on seeing the painted marks of the Grizzly Cubs upon our foreheads, with a degree of reverence.
Around trees and over streams we passed, drawing ever closer to the great castle the rose over this pleasing land, until we at last came to a paved circle marked by three arches. Here we were met by the royals of Elemaria, tall and fair folk of great grace and beauty, descended from the first people to enter this lands and peacefully occupy it to live in harmony with nature.
Fantasy Faire 2020: Elemaria
They greeted each one of us in turn, taking each of us by the forearms drawing us close as we each gripped theirs, until forehead lightly touched forehead. Then one each paired with us, and by twos in a line, we climbed the stone stairs up to where a garden of water and blue-hued trees lay before the towers of the castle, the roar of the falls that fell true and sheer from these gardens bringing an end to conversation until we passed over the gardens atop arched bridges to pass within the walls of the castle. Here the sound of the water passed behind us, to be replaced by music as light and warmth greeted us within those high, dressed walls.
And so we arrived in Elemaria, the length of our journey soothed by the music, and the grace and beauty of our hosts who guided us to our quarters high within the castle, treated as royalty even though they who served us and welcomed us to their banquet later, were themselves of high office.
Fantasy Faire 2020: Elemaria
Spirit Valley of Kuruk designed by Loki Eliot and sponsored by Spyralle, Little, Big Designs, Team ACTS, Totally Tinies. Featuring stores by: Attitude is an Artform, Atomic Kitties, Cerridwen’s Cauldron, Cheval D’or|Elysian, CHIMAERA, Designs by Isaura, Dinkie Boutique, Fantavatar & Moonstruck & Lilith’s Den, Icaland ind, Peeps Dinkies, Prehistorica: The Dawn Kingdoms, Stytchwytch Designs, Tiny Inc., and Twisted Whiskers & Dinkie Duds.
Elemaria by Bee Dumpling & Solas Enchantment and sponsored by Silvan Moon Designs, Secrets of Gaia. Featured stores: ABADDON ARTS, Ab.Fab skins and Fantasy, :: ANTAYA ::, =ED= Eagle Designs, FaceDesk Creative Creations, Flying Horse Head Studios, Gecko Creations & ~Soraida~, God Mod, Laminak, Last Ride, Stardust, Star Journey, The Elven Forest, The Wooly Pig, TRB – A Woman’s Touch, Unity Maxim, Valkyrie Designed, and .Viki.
Total raised by the end of the Faire’s third day: L$3,779,514 (US $15,118).
I logged in to Second Life to find I had an unexpected gift waiting for me: a preview version of the Bandit 170, the latest motor boat by Analyse Dean. It’s a cute little craft modelled, as Ana’s boats are, after a physical world boat, as is noted in the 170’s user guide.
The Bandit 170 DeLuxe is modelled after the small recreational pocket cruisers of the 1970’s, like the Inter 500 and the Marina M17, they were popular then, and are still popular now.
Due to the small size they are easily stored, can be pulled on a trailer behind a compact car, they are fuel efficient when puttering around, but fast and fun to drive when you open up the throttle, and you can camp out in the cosy cabin for a weekend fishing trip.
At 6.6 metres in overall deck length, this really is a small boat – smaller than the Bandit SRV-210 speedboat, which I reviewed two years ago, when it was first released. Nevertheless, it come packed with details: a range of cabin and deck sits, the ability to tow a passenger carrying tube or and optional wakeboard (the 170 is compatible with Ape Piaggio’s wakeboards, which can be purchased at Ape’s store at Dutch Harbor).
Bandit 170
The 170 is very much a faithful reproduction of the Inter 500 / Marina M17 (Ana provides a pair of photos of the Inter 500 so you can see for yourself). The stern well provides room for four, while the compact cabin offers sleeping / sitting space for in reasonable comfort. It is powered by 40 hp outboard motor that may not have a huge turn of speed in the physical world when compared to speed boats and larger cruisers, but which is for Second Life more than adequate, and at the upper end of its speed scale, makes this a manoeuvrable, nippy little craft.
The controls for the boat follow the usual layout: when seated, the pilot types “start” (no quotes) to start the engine and “stop” to turn it off, while the Left / Right keys will turn the boat in the appropriate direction, and the Up / Down keys increase / decrease the throttle. From start, a tap on Page Up will fully open the throttle while tapping the Down Key when in motion will drop the throttle back to idle. If Page Down is tapped when the throttle is idling, it will drop the boat into full reverse, and Page Up will bring the throttle back up to idle.
A range of chat commands unlock other features, including deploying the Bimini (Sun shade over the open boat well) or the tent (completely encloses the boat well), setting the camera position, turning the hover text HUD on / off, dropping / raise the anchor, deploy the fenders – and more, as detailed in the the user guide. Touching the boat can either access the range of sit / pose options (of which there are a fair few, singles, couples and fun) or activate various controls / options – such the the ventilation hatch in the cabin roof, boil the kettle, (and give you a mug of a hot beverage), toggle the control panel switches for the boat’s lights, stow / unstow the forward seats in the boat’s well or the table in the cabin, put out a larger bed, etc.
Bandit 170
Like many of Ana’s boats, the Bandit 170 is a very physical craft: it really will bounce through waves when at speed; as a consequence, you can suffer a fair amount of camera juddering. This can be lessened by using the mouse scroll wheel to push your camera back a little from the boat. And talking of the camera, for those times when it skews and locks at a weird position on a region crossing, the pilot can generally recover by toggling between the two camera modes (cam 1 and cam 2). It may not always work – but such is the nature of SL.
For those who like first-person driving, the Bandit 170 is a capable craft, the dashboard has a single instrument – the speedometer. When driving in third-person mode, a little practice will show there’s no need for the hover text HUD.
The boat’s package includes a range of extras: a dock with scripted auto-mooring, a trailer for towing the boat, a complete texture pack for producing custom paint finishes (and which includes a couple of pre set paint options; textures are applied by right-clicking the boat and selecting the required face – just refer to the texture currently in place on the boat to confirm which texture goes where). A pack of flag textures are also included, together with the aforementioned towable tube – see the user manual for details on this.
The Bandit 170 on its trailer
An interesting twist with the Bandit 170 is that it comes ready for a new game Ana is working on with Ape Piaggio, Rez Grey (the originator of Get The Freight out) and Dutch Mainsail. Called OMFG (that’s One More Fishing Game before you jump other conclusions!), it is a grid-wide fishing game that Ana describes thus:
It’s 100% database driven, so all the water in SL is mapped out, meaning you’d really have to go out with your boat, look at the fish finder to see if there is fish, and then stop and cast a line, what you catch depends on what gear/bait you use, and where you are (also, how much you had to drink, if that’s a lot, you start catching really weird things…
The game has yet to be finalised, which means the eventual retail price of the Bandit 170 is still TBC. However, those who would like early access to the boat (without the game option) can obtain it from the Bandit stall at Uber. Those buying the boat from there will receive a free game update once the latter is available.
Bandit 170 o the rivers of Bellisseria
One of the things I like about this little cruiser is that its small size, shallow draft and low speeds make it ideal for navigating inland waterways around SL – I had a lot of fun (low bridges allowing) pootling around the rivers of Bellisseria.
All told, a great addition to the Bandit ranged of power boats, one that could well be a popular item among boating enthusiasts, bringing with it a land impact of 35. If you don’t fancy trying to fight your way into Uber to grab one, you can hop to Dutch Harbor and at least take the demo version for a run.
Fantasy Faire is now well under way for 2020, the gates to the Fairelands having opened on April 23rd. In writing my shorthand guide to the the event, I was drawn again and again to Zander Green’s pre-opening letter to all those who participate in the Faire every year. So much so, that my shorthand guide risked getting sidetracked in thoughts surrounding Zander’s words. Instead, I decided it might be better to offer those thoughts in a separate piece.
Since 2009, Fantasy Faire has offered many reasons for people to come together and share their time and company in raising money as part of global Relay for Life activities. But this year, perhaps more than the previous 11, Fantasy Faire offers three particular reasons to relay that can apply to each and every one of us who spend time within Second Life.
The first is aligned to the cause of overcoming cancer in all of its forms. This is the campaign for which the Fairelands were born from the mists of imagination in 2009, and it is campaign which has – as Zander reminded us – achieved a tremendous amount:
This year, over seven hundred souls will work to summon the Fairelands back from the Somnia Caligo, the Mist of Dreams and twenty thousand will come as visitors to those summoned shores. Small numbers still, when you consider our world is home to 7.8 billion people.
Yet, sometimes the smallest numbers carry the most weight. Certainly, that is true in the Fairelands …
For example, 0.13% is – I’m sure you would agree – a very small number. But as always, context is king. So, to understand just how large that number actually is we first must consider the equation that yields that solution.
By the end of the 2019 season, Fantasy Faire’s total amount raised placed us as the 82nd most successful Relay For Life team on Earth [and] in 2019, there were a total of 63,270 Relay For Life teams worldwide …
Put another way, last year the Fairelands were in the TOP 0.13% of all Relay For Life teams, not just in Second Life but all across the globe.
That is how much weight a small number can carry. That is how much good a small group of people can do.
In all, and through to the end of 2019’s event, Fantasy Faire has raised a stunning US $358,000 for RFL and ACS. That’s an incredible amount considering the Faire exists for just a handful of days each year. It speaks directly to the nature and hearts of all who attend, shop and donate. The money raised has gone on to support those stricken with cancer and their families and care givers through the Unite States and beyond, and most recently has helped give birth to the work of the Kenyatta National Hospital Hope Hostel.
A US $2 million project, the Hope Hostel provides 156 beds for those seeking cancer treatment at KNH, Kenya’s largest public referral hospital with comprehensive cancer treatment facilities, together with support and resource facilities for family members and carers. Its existence means that those coming to the hospital from all corners of Kenya, and who might otherwise be unable to afford accommodation and care during treatment, can have somewhere safe, clean and secure to stay during their treatment sessions and where they can receive advice and support during their stay.
Kenyatta National Hospital Hope Hostel
In adopting the Hope Hostel as a focus for fund-raising at Fantasy Faire 2028, Fairelanders and Second Life Relayers were able to make a lasting difference to many cancer sufferers and their families in Kenya, as evidenced by a letter to Fairelanders written ahead of 2019’s Fantasy Faire by Kristen Solt, Managing Director of the ACS
Global Health Initiatives Programme.
Thanks in large part to Relayers in Second Life, we’ve been able to launch the Patient Navigator program at KNH which in the last year has given FOUR THOUSAND Kenyans access to better information and assistance. Think about that number for a moment: four thousand people! Ask yourself how many family members they each have. How many friends and loved ones? There are tens of thousands of people in Kenya today whose lives are already better because of you.
– Kristen Solt, ACS Global Health Initiatives Programme Managing
Director, April 13th, 2019
By joining in with this year’s Faire, all of us can help further work like this, helping cancer sufferers and those close to them the world over.
The second reason to relay in 2020 lies with the currently global situation. Because of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, events around the world are being cancelled – including those for RFL. Remember that in 2019 alone, there were 63,270 RFL teams around the word raising money for ACS; in 2020, few will be able to operate with the same zeal in raising funds. This means that for 2020, Fantasy Faire and RFL of SL are at the very forefront of fund-raising for ACS, as Zander again pointed out in his letter.
Right now, with so many RFL events around the world facing cancellation because of the dangers of Covid-19, ours has become one of the few that can proceed as planned. Our community has never been more important. Four million Relayers around the world are looking to us to carry the baton for them. A world full of cancer patients, survivors and caregivers turn their eyes to us. The American Cancer Society has asked us to be their Standard Bearer.
Fantasy Faire 2020: AutumniumThat’s why for 2020 it doesn’t matter if you would otherwise categorise yourself as being Bored With the Ring or would rather play Monopoly than watch Game of Thrones or would rather wear a Starfleet uniform with your pointed ears than accompany them with a pair of faerie wings, your presence – your willingness to give L$ – at Fantasy Faire, really is important. By giving of your time and becoming a Relayer perhaps for the first time, you will be helping Fantasy Faire and RFL of SL rise to the call from those 4 million global relayers in continuing to raise funds for ACS and its world-wide projects.
And the third reason? Simply this: by bringing so many of us together from so many backgrounds and parts of the world in a place where we can feel safe and share in a vision of hope and experience one another’s joy, friendship, support and more, the Faire stands as a reminder that the current times of fear and concern will pass; that there will again be times when we can gather with family or with friends or with neighbours and enjoy their company, love, and friendship once more.
So whether you are a journeymen of Fairelands past or a neophyte about to enter into them for the first time, here are three reasons for you to Relay in 2020. Which leaves me only to say – stay safe, stay virtual – and between now and May 10th, 2020, see you at the Fairelands!
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 