Calling all Second Life filmmakers and aspiring auteurs! It's time for the Second Life Movie Trailer Contest 2006. We need your help to create the ultimate movie trailer to show off the best of Second Life. This year we've broken down the contest into six distinct categories highlighting some of the most popular activities in Second Life so there’s bound to be something you're interested in. If anything, the Grand Prize of L$100,000 is sure to tempt your fancy! We’re taking entries until August 10, so get those cameras rolling. Want to learn more?

Teen Grid Fly-over

The mysterious Cyan Linden takes the newest Linden Lab Community Manager, Claudia Linden, on a tour of the Teen Grid (TG). Follow along on their adventures, meet a Meiji dragon (image at right) and learn some of the history of the Second Life Teen Grid… Read more

The Power of Feature Voting

Over the last month or so, Resident Angel Fluffy has helped make the Feature Voting tool more useful by going through over 1500 proposals and cultivating a list of suggestions for review. Included in Angel’s list were many proposals which needed to be closed or acknowledged. A big thank you to Angel for helping facilitate better communication between Linden Lab and the community. Don’t forget to vote today for your favorite new feature!

Birthday Party Planners

Thanks are also in order to the entire group of organizers of Second Life’s Third Birthday Party which was held last month in celebration of three years since Second Life was launched. Much appreciation to Amalthea Blanc, Gonta Maltz, Kai Sachertorte, Mera Pixel, Mimi Thereian, SpiderKitten Mirabeau, Tao Takashi, Tateru Nino, Torley Linden, and everyone else who helped create the magnificent party. Organization of the event took place in-world and at the SL History Wiki.

Know someone worth mentioning? Tell us!

Coming Soon to a City Near You: Second Life Developer University

This August, Linden Lab is proud to present "SLDEVU: Learn How to Create a Thriving Business in a Virtual World" in collaboration with the Second Life Community Convention. This three hour workshop will teach those new to or familiar with Second Life how to build, script, and texture their own original content. Beyond content creation, workshop participants will also learn how to monetize that content and start their own Second Life business!
Read more.

Disturbing the Peace

Nothing can ruin your Second Life quite like annoying chat or other types of spam. This month’s installment of the Police Blotter explores the Disturbing the Peace Community Standard and sheds a bit of light on chat, IM and other spam, parcel encroachment and the other not uncommon irritants of Second Life. Read more.

Capture the Moment:
Easy Guide to the New Snapshot Preview

Second Life 1.11 introduced a new Snapshot Preview for taking in-world pictures. It includes some features long-requested by Residents and ultimately gives everyone more control of how to preserve your Second Life memories. Understandably, getting used to it can be confusing—that's what this guide is for! Read more.

Welcome to the Free Press

Recently a new newspaper was introduced in Second Life, called The Democrat. The Democrat joins the Metaverse Messenger as a member of the in-world press engaged in covering news and events of Second Life. We do love the Metaverse Messenger (and the multitude of blogs covering Second Life), but we're also pleased to welcome The Democrat because we embrace the principle of a free press and the value it can add to Second Life.

While the Metaverse Messenger is doing a tremendous job covering the news, events and controversies of Second Life, it's our belief that the more the merrier. With additional press comes dazzling possibilities of, among other things, appealing to different constituencies and representing a range of opinions. We believe this adds richness, perspective, variety and, in sum, contributes to an expanding vibrant stream of voices.

A free press provides the Second Life community with information and also holds Linden Lab accountable for its policy decisions. At the same time the press itself is accountable to the community for truth and objectivity. Importantly, a free press, through its reporting and editorializing, promotes an open debate over policies and issues that affect us all. We hope that they will establish editorial boards to ensure that what they print is factual and objective.

We want the Second Life community to know we value a free and responsible press, and welcome the checks and balances its growth will bring to Second Life. We'll be supporting the press by making sure we include them in all important announcements we make and by participating in interviews and responding to inquiries as requested.

Agree? Disagree? Let us know - send us your Letter to the Editor - with your Second Life username - and we will publish a representative set in the next edition of The Second Opinion.

We received many thoughtful responses to our opinion piece: How Much Growth is Enough. A sample of the letters start here, don’t forget to click through to read the whole text. Thank you for your responses!

What about the Griefers?
I have read the article and as much as I'm pleased to see that the growth seems to be wonderful and what not. But to be totally honest I have been to several locals that have been hit by the dreaded griefers. One club even had photos to prove they were hit, which in turn because of this attack…(keep reading) from Vince Kamenev

Keep Second Life Adults Only
I appreciate the desire to eliminate the credit card barrier for people, but I was dismayed to run into high school kids making fart jokes and agonizing over their SATs. And they were in front of the DelMar XXX sex motel at the time…(keep reading) from Xanna Ziskey

This is the Future
You are building the Metaverse. This is how it came to be. Soon many things will be in this "Second Life" you have created. Go read "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson, and beware people like L. Bob Rife. You have given birth to a beautiful thing.
- MotorNerve Widget

Worried about Younger Residents
I have enjoyed 2L tremendously and appreciate all that you have done. It has been a great sociological experiment for me. I am a bit concerned about your decision to lift credit card restrictions for membership. Can this potentially open the door for younger groups to join? Would this invite the predators over that are hoping to seek the younger members?… (keep reading) from Hamilton Benavente

Griefers and Open Registration
While I think that the expansion of SL, and seeking to find ways to encourage that, is a wonderful thing, I do have some concerns about it. From my own personal perspective, a lot of the griefing I've been subject to has been from minors… (keep reading) from Little Ming

Last month we incorrectly reported that the web site Dugz.Biz was run by Second Life Resident Ginny Gremlin. The helpful Second Life site is actually Doug Donovan’s project.