Rabbit Assassinated in Virtual New York

By Fresh Catteneo
Second Life Reporter

If you thought Second Life is a paradise of beautiful flowers, magical landscapes and enchanting sunsets then you are..... probably right. But there is a second side to Second Life and it is dark and dangerous. This white rabbit was shot point blank right in the forehead on CSI:NY Orientation West . With a cigar still stuck in his mouth he lay flat on his back while his wound oozed blood all over the sidewalk. A close examination of the footprints leading away from the body reveals they belong to someone wearing high heels.


I was not alone on the crime scene. In fact, the area was surprisingly crowded. But not by typical SL residents wearing L$ 2000 suits and skins, but by dozens of shiny bran newbies with NOT flexy hair. Most of them had CSI FAN tags on them and NY police badges... Here's a picture of a typical CSI:NY fan inspecting the scene:

And what else is typical newbie behaviour at SL? There are two main ones; being in a state of "Away" or in a state of "Editing Appearance". This girl came to the crime scene to help solve the crime (I'll tell you about that in a minute), so why is she dozing off while floating in midair ? And wearing only one shoe ?! What's going on here ? Is this a police badge I am seeing on her right breast ?


The rabbit was shot by a dangerous assassin called Venus who started off in an episode of CSI:NY , later escaping her pursuers into SL.


The CSI detectives followed her tracks, in the form of SL avatars. They are detective Paul Dawson, Medical Examiner Dr Dacota Lenox, CSI Nathalie Evans, and Jared Washington.

Also a major player is detective Zuiker:


This virtual CSI team calls SL residents, CSI:NY fans and literally anyone with a bit of a detective spirit to help locate the whereabouts of Venus and deliver her alive to the hands of the police. This apparently draws many people to participate. At the sim's landing spot (welcome area), I counted new avatars materialize at a rate of about 5 - 10 per minute.

Once you arrive, you are instructed to download an additional piece of software called the OnRez (developed by the Electric Sheep Company), which is a sort of upgraded traditional SL viewer. It's very user friendly and enhances the overall SL experience. The detectives left clues and tracks one must follow in different sims in SL. I am not sure but did I see a reward of 5000$ ? The game will go on until February 2008. I might continue following this story, so stay tuned....

The Animals of Volcano Island

The Animals of SL Part 3

After dancing all night at the discotheque inside the volcano (see previous post), I felt I needed to get out and breath some fresh air. The sun was shining on Volcano Island and it seemed that the volcano's lava had stopped flowing towards the village. Although I still didn't see any people, some animals began to appear. There were many marine animals that I photographed either inside the water or near the seashore.

Shark

Pelican

Seagull

Crab

This is the second sea turtle that I have seen in SL. The first one I saw was at Bodhi, but he was of a different species. I plan on setting out on another expedition to Bodhi to document all the animals on that Sim. As I recall there are very interesting species of wildlife there.

This is yet another species of humming bird and also the second I have encountered in SL. You can see a picture of the first kind that I met at Mystica at "Animals of Second Life Part 1"

Dragonfly

Volcano Inferno is Erupting

By Fresh Catteneo

I was informed tonight that volcano Inferno on Volcano Island has begun to erupt. Volcano Island is a tropical paradise and a vacation resort. When I arrived there it was completely abandoned, as all the guests and permanent residents have escaped for their lives. The lava began to flow down the mountain and is threatening to drown the village and bury it forever.
The only one left was a lion who stood on the beach and didn't seem to mind.

I decided to take a closer look inside the volcano. This was very suspicious and there was no reason for this volcano to erupt. Something is going on and I had to find out what it was.


I flew and entered into the gaping pit of the volcano. The heat was unbearable but I had tolerated worse things in my life. After all, I AM Superman. I descended lower and lower until I almost stood on the lava bottom of the volcano.

Something was fishy. I could swear I am hearing music from down below. This is no joke. I held my breath and dived into the sea of lava. I was in the dark for a few seconds and when I opened my eyes I was deep inside the volcano, under the sea of lava. I looked down and saw that I was hovering over non other than a discotheque....



The reason for the volcano's eruption was discovered. The 2000 MegaDecibels this discotheque was generating had caused cracks in the earth's crust and seismic vibrations which caused the volcano to start erupting.



This is a scandal and whoever is responsible for it should be reported to the authorities immediately. It's a man made disaster. I started looking up the records of the place to find the name of the owner and report him to the SL police but something peculiar happened. I began to like the music. It was so funky ! Not before long I was all over the dance floor, dancing like a butterfly... Doing some really groovy moves....


I think I will hold off calling the police for now. Maybe later. Hey, come on guys, this place is a blast! Click here to teleport to Volcano Island.