New World Notes

Dutchie Black Friday Weekend Sale: 30% Off the Entire Adult Store! (Partner News)

From today until next Monday, everything in the Adult store of Dutchie (a proud New World Notes sponsoring partner), is 30% off. And who knows, you may get to meet Dutchie's elegant owner herself! [Click here to teleport] 

New World Notes Seeking Experienced Advertising/Bizdev Partners

As I plow away on writing Why the Metaverse Matters, I'm also planning to expand New World Notes' reach next year. And I definitely need help doing that.

Are you interested in being New World Notes' advertising executive and/or bizdev partner? Contact me via DM on Twitter  or Discord (WJA #3523) or even actual e-mail (wjamesau at Gmail).

This is an opportunity to partner with brands that New World Notes readers would find valuable, and ideally, would also become an ongoing partnership. (More on that below.)

New World Notes is the longest running and most read metaverse/virtual world blog with a primary focus on Second Life and its many spinoffs, metaverse platforms, and related technologies, often cited by major outlets like the New York Times, the BBC, Bloomberg, Wired, and others. According to Similar Web, we typically attract 150,000 visits a month (sometimes more, sometimes less). It's also the most-read general news/culture blog with a major focus on Second Life.

Blog Status: New World Notes Fully Back Online (I Think)! Let Me Know If Otherwise

Relieved that Typepad finally found the problem that was causing some/most images on New World Notes not to load. Apologies to anyone frustrated over the last few days! Speaking of which, if you see any other weird display issues, please let me know in Comments below or on Twitter. (Please specify device and browser you're using.)

As Typepad Continues to Break New World Notes, Here's an Open Forum

We are fast approaching a whole week of server problems caused by Typepad, New World Notes' blog service. I have a whole host of interesting and inspiring metaverse stories to share, but no point doing so when the images barely load.

If you are somehow able to reach this blog despite loading and image display problems, congrats! Please discuss anything even vaguely related to metaverse platforms in this open forum post.

SERVICE UPDATE: New World Notes Not Recently Displaying Due to Typepad Outages

The Typepad team is continuing to work to fully restore service. At this time, you may see issues such as blogs or images not loading, or you may encounter an error when logging into the application. We are working non-stop to address all remaining problems. #TypepadStatus

— Typepad (@typepad) October 31, 2022

Thanks to everyone who recently contacted me about New World Notes not loading or fully displaying since last week. That seems to be due to my blog service Typepad having trouble with server migration and maintenance since roughly October 21, further compounded by a DDOS attack on October 28. You can follow Typepad's Twitter for further updates.

Apologies for the inconvenience! Kinda wild that Linden Lab chose Typepad to host the original New World Notes blog because it launched in October 2003, shortly after Second Life launched commercially. (And I stuck with Typepad when NWN went independent.)

Further irony: At this point I probably need to keep New World Notes on Typepad, at least in an archive form, because at least 25% of daily traffic goes to old posts, even to posts originally published in 2003.

Expanding My History of Second Life from 2003 With a "Best Of" Archive

"People can't tell how far back this blog goes!", was some very helpful advice a friend recently offered, and so I'm slowly expanding my archive of posts tracking the history of Second Life and the Metaverse in general starting from 2003 (when I was still with Linden Lab) up until now. (If you're on desktop, they're available on the right column.)

That includes classics like "Fighting the Front" from 2007 (above), "Impeachable Offense" from 2005, and, of course, 2003's "The War of the Jessie Wall". Adding more years soon!

Watch: Seracast's Live Stream Look at New Items from the Outlet

For your SL shopping plans this week, here's Del and Kess' live streamed look at the latest items from the Outlet in the Seraphim sim (click here to teleport), accompanied by a group of fans including a small yellow dinasaur.

SL Special: Buy Summer Home Furnishing Bundles from Dutchie -- And Support Dutchie During a Difficult Real Life Health Crisis!

The Dutchie Spa Bundle is a special discount Summer offer from the beloved creator of SL furnishings, one of many bundles that Dutchie owner Froukje Hoorenbeek is offering now. (Many more below.) She's offering these as she's going through a real life health crisis that will take her away from SL content creation for awhile:

"What I have is two fractured vertebrae," she tells me, "and the operation is being done by a neurosurgeon and an orthopedic surgeon together. They are gonna put cages and screws in to fixate my spine and it's gonna take at least 4 hours for them. Afterward, I will not be able to work for at least 3 months, they tell me. Sitting will be hard to do during that time.

"We have pretty good health care in the Netherlands and I have insurance, so the operating costs are covered. The three months of recovery afterward are not."

So she is expanding her Marketplace offerings now ("as much as the pain allows me") as she prepares for her operation, and the long stretch afterward. Dutchie, a sometime sponsoring supporter of New World Notes (though not at the moment) is a longtime and much-admired SL brand, so if you are in the market for great virtual home furnishings, I hope you consider shopping on her store.

More Dutchie bundles below, and all my best for a speedy Dutchy recovery!

Watch: Seracast's Season 1 Finale, Bravely Recorded Live from the Seraphim Sim With a Highly Active Drinking Game

Streaming live and unedited this week, here's the latest fun and chatty episode of Seracast, broadcast from the Seraphim sim. Details from the blog:

As well as all the usual features and information we will be giving away 2 full makeovers to 2 lucky winners including head and body of their choice plus spending money for hair, accessories, clothes and skins. One winner will be chosen from the live audience and one from YouTube after a week. Catch up with the cast for how to enter on YouTube.

For this season finale, the ladies bravely and hilariously do a drinking game during the episode, hitting their cocktails whenever "SL", "metaverse", or Second Life" is said. Which they do a lot! They also chat about Strawberry's 15 years in the virtual world, which is fitting, as their video seems like the very kind of thing she was hoping to see more in the SL social media ecosystem.

Cajsa is Seriously Injured IRL and Needs Our Help With L$ Donations & Medical Supply Purchases

Above: Casja's home in SL and donation-collecting dog -- click here to teleport.

Cajsa Lilliehook's long-running and much-loved New World Notes' column did not run today -- because today, Cajsa was at her nearby wound clinic, undergoing debridement.

She has, as Cajsa puts it to me, "an infection in my leg, complicated by an impaired immune system. It's shallow but very broad, so quite painful."

Retired in real life, this condition requires medical supplies that aren't covered by her insurance.

If you want to help Cajsa with these supplies, you can go here to her Amazon wish list.

Or if you prefer, you can visit her lovely home by the water in Second Life, and click the dog by her door, which accepts Linden Dollar donations -- click here to teleport.