Some More April Foolery In, And Out, of Second Life

 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

As longtime readers know, our April Fool article is something of a Newser tradition. And so, when yours truly unleashed his, some had an idea what to expect. But it looks like at least one friend of mine was gotten good, "I HATE APRIL FOOLS!"  Over the years, we've had a number. A few had no reaction, others were a mix of laughs, groans, and "You are SO going to get it!" The later of course is what I strive for. *grins*

 

As they've done for a few years, Linden Lab had one as well, their announcement of an HOA for Linden Homes.  This one got some chuckles too. Someone in the SL forums posted about an HOA officer badge available in SL. The giver was in the Grass sim just outside the Satanic Temple (which some under an HOA would say makes perfect sense). Just head to Grass (194/167/116), click the shield on the wall, add to one's chest and shrink the size (it was huge before editing). 

 

 

My time in Second Life on April Fools Day was limited, but I did head of one good prank in the Sunweaver area. I received a tip from Cynthia Farshore to get a look at Club Cutlass. I wasn't disappointed. 

 

 Cutlass had been made pink before for April Fool. But now, the whole place had been done into what she later called a "pink bunny slipper" as a poke at community leader Rita Mariner whom is less than happy about being the color. 

 

 The inside was pinkish as well. I just happened to see Rita as I stepped aboard, but she logged off right away. When I asked her for comment later on, she would only say, "Booooooooo!"

 

 No, these weren't the actual contest winners. Sadly real-life would keep me away from the event that night.

 

 My time in SL was short that day, but I did recall one yearly April Fool's related event: Ever's Night in Bay City which started out a way to honor a chaotic fun-loving local resident and has continued every year. 

 

 Dropping by, I noticed flames at a couple spots, one of the banks and a post office were aflame. 

 

By T.J. Hooker

 Real life would take me away, but as the night went on, so did the fires to more of Bay City, which T.J. Hooker would post pictures of in the community Discord. 

 

By T.J. Hooker

 "... the spirit of Ever Dreamscape is alive and well." 

 

By the following day though, the fires were out and all damage repaired, and life for the virtual world's largest urban area went on.  

 

While there was almost certainly more April Foolery in Second Life worth mentioning, I wasn't able to see any. There were some in gaming though. According to PC Gamer, the makers of Witcher announced they were doing a horse controller that looked like a kid's toy horsie. Palworld's makers earlier joked it was making a dating simulator based on the game, and this year the joke had a steam page (with the taglines "horror" and "sexual conrent"). And Blizzard announced they would be giving the players of dwarf characters in World of Warcraft the option of having tails. 

 

April Fools Day is not popular with everyone, and indeed there are some who have commented the world has been so crazy for years the unofficial holiday needs to be done away with. Yours truly begs to differ. I've always found humor to be important, and April Fools day is the perfect opportunity for a good joke. Yes, there are rules and some things shouldn't be joked about, and those in the media should make sure it's a joke nobody gets hurt over and later informs the audience it was made in jest. But this we've done.  And so we'll continue our April Foolery for as long as there's a Newser. 

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

 

ApRiL fOoL!!!

 

Happy April Fools Day from the Second Life Newser!

May your April Fools Day be filled with joy, merriment, and general foolery.

For previous April Fool jokes, check out 2025, 2024, 2023. 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019,  2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014,  2013, 2012, and 2011.    

Latest On The Dahlia Linden Rocks

 

 By Bixyl Shuftan

 

Last month, there was a mystery afoot on the Second Life mainland after strange rocks with glowing blue symbols were discovered at the Bay City Airport, and two other locations far away near the main road.  Dahlia Linden, the person involved whose notes were clues to what was going on, stated that something would happen on March 18. So there was nothing else to do but wait.

 

The week was a busy one with the Sunweaver Air show having just happened, St. Patrick's Day, a new Linden, the VWBPE conference, and more. But on Thursday March 18, I went back to the Bay City Airport, and back to the hill with the boulder. The rock and glyph were still there, and the flowers looked a little brighter than I remembered. 

 

There was also a note, and I took a closer look. It turned out to be two notes, one on top of the other. 

 

 Log 0003

Upon arriving at this location today, the flowers reached such a grand luminosity! 

What could they possibly be doing? And this strange humming sort of sound…Hm, and what does–


----

Log 0004

My god! The entire earth just shook! It felt like the highest magnitude of an earthquake I have ever experienced in my lifetime! 

Something is rising upwards from the land on the horizon!


I have to go! To whomever may find this, head for these coordinates!

 

Region: New Bloom Mountain

Something is there!

-Dahlia

 

 I clicked on the note, and ended up at New Bloom Mountain (254/239/89). Getting a bearing of my surroundings, nearby was one of those blue flowers and yellow "anomaly" signs. There was also a larger green sign.

 

WARNING: This region is currently under review by Land Operations.

 

Please tread carefully.

 

Normality will return on March 25th. 

 

And there was one of Dahlia's notes. 

 

Nothing could prepare me for anything like this!

A full-scale mountain has been lifted directly up from the earth from seemingly nowhere!

How? How did this structure appear so abruptly, and yet I can see various flora and fauna thriving on the surface. It is as if the environment on the mountain had always existed.

Was the land already developing ever since those rocks sprouted from the earth?

 I must go higher. I shall record my findings at the summit, and hopefully unravel the mystery behind this development!

-Dahlia

 

And so, I began walking up the mountain. Fortunately, there were enough inclines and even a natural walkway curling around the mountain, so I didn't have to do any actual climbing. I slowly made my way up. 

 

 Finally, I reached the top. And it was a beautiful sight. The mountaintop was covered in grass, and many many more of those bright blue flowers. Not just a few more, more like hundreds more. 

 

I also saw another of the boulders with a bright blue glyphs, and in front of it one of the blue flowers in a pot, and another of Dahlia Linden's notes.  

 

 

My goodness! The flowers! They are...they are everywhere!

Not even a day ago, this mountain sprang up from the earth's surface in mere seconds! And despite this, here at the peak, a small field of those strange flowers are already thriving! Such a curious phenomenon, seeing that they were just born.

The flower's behavior is also intriguing. It is as if they were searching for their true habitat, and somehow manifested it! I find it hard to believe something so small has the ability to create such an incredible phenomenon. How remarkable!

Now that I am aware that the flowers are able to survive here, I should be able to transport one to my lodgings to study and observe it further. While waiting for the next phase in this anomaly, I developed a special planter that I hoped would allow me to transport one of the flowers away from the strange stones. However, I postponed the extraction fearing that I could risk losing one of those flowers in the process.

With a proper soil sample and now having an abundant source of flowers, I can ease my fears. I will leave one of my planters here in the event that I need to acquire more samples. One planter should be sufficient for safe transporting.

Curiously though, I am still picking up faint readings of more energy anomalies in the land. My intuition tells me that this won’t be the last anomaly that manifests in the world. Till then, I will be on the hunt for whatever comes next.

Until the next change,

-Dahlia 

 

Exactly how this mountain and the flower sprung up so fast, that's something we may not be privileged to know. What happens to the mountain on March 25th? That's going to require a trip over to find out. 

 

As for the flowers, there's now enough to ensure their survival, unless something happens to the mountaintop. Curiously, when I moved the flower in the pot, somehow another appeared in it's place. Some strange power of the blue crystal sigils?  To better ensure the survival of the species, as well as get a souvenir of my travels, I took one of the planters with me back to the Newser office in HV Community. 

 

That's all on the mystery of the Dahlia rocks for now,

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

 

Update On The Mystery Rocks

 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

There's been something of a mystery going on in the Second Life Mainland. Over Valentines Day weekend, it was discovered there was a strange rock over at Bay City Airport, then two others at a couple other spots on the Second Life Mainland, Dangun and Plenodyes. Each had a note from a Dahlia Linden, whose profile was almost blank, which talked about something about to happen at the locations on Monday February 16. There were also a couple campsites with Bay City flags at the latter two locations.

 

I would message T.J. Hooker, and he told me that he indeed had set up the camps to investigate the strange rocks. He would say Marianne was the first (outside the Lindens) to notice something was up when she saw the boulder at Bay City on Thursday, and he and others went to help her investigate (T.J. Hooker's picture to left), "Based on (Dahlia Linden's) profile photo, Pygar identified the road in the background. After exploring that area, I found the boulder in Plenodyes." He found out roughly where the third one was by a tip to check out the Linden Estate Services office. There was a map showing three boulder locations, "There was also a painting with what appeared to be rocky terrain paint, with the description 'Is this a hint?'" He would then scout around the location pointed out by the third, finding it in Dangun, "Further investigation has revealed that Dangun was the first boulder placed, and one of the only ones with a specific parcel name of ;Off the beaten path;, Hau Koda was second, and Plenodyes was third. All three were rezzed in a 15 minute window. Plenodyes has a nearby Linden Road project named NR26, as well as something called 825 Project. I am not certain if those are connected to the boulders, or just convenient placement." He would note that of the triangle on the map made by the three locations, the Belisseria Welcome Hub was close to the center. 

 

T.J. Hooker has a Primfeed one can see his progress in investigating the anomalies (here). . 

 

On Monday, I would drop by to check on the rocks, running into the Relay's Prettykitty Gumbo as she did so as well at the same time. We dropped in on the boulder and camp at Plenodyes. The rock itself was the same, but growing around it were three bright blue flowers. 

 

There was also a second note from Dahlia Linden:

 

 I have returned to an amazing discovery! It appears as though the energy shifts from these rocks have dissipated. Now, a new undocumented flower has sprouted from beneath the stones! Never in my life have I witnessed fauna so astonishing! It's breathtaking!

Based on the readings I am getting from this flower, it shares an identical energy signature as the strange rocks. However, something else strikes my curiosity: the spots the flowers are sprouting from doesn't appear to be in its natural environment.

The structure suggests they need a much higher elevation in order to fully root and to spread more freely.

But where would that be?

If these flowers share the same pulsing energy signature as the rocks, and from the last change that took place after 30 days, then it's safe to conclude that another change should occur around March 18th.

I must return again to see further developments!

Until the next change,

-Dahlia
 

 

The camp itself would have some changes. One was a Linden bear that when touched would sound off some newcomer hints. The two bots were gone, and there was a helicopter near the camp. There was also now an unlocked drink cooler, which was loaded with drinks, and a huge hoagie sandwich. I guess someone from Bay City noticed Melisa's comment about the lack of sandwiches. 

 

PrettyKitty and I then headed to the Dangun camp. Like it's counterpart, the stone here had three blue flowers around it, though with the rock's upright posture they were easier to see. The camp was a little larger with more equipment, and also some drinks and a large sandwich.

 

But there was more. There was also a note out in the open.

 

Field Team Interpretation - Plenodyes Site

Arrived on location to review Dahlia's findings. 
Her notes about "energetic shifts" match what we're feeling here. 
The stone looks recently uplifted - soil still loose around the base.

The spiral marking is precise. Doesn't look carved by tools.
Glow strongest at dawn and dusk.
Surface temperature slightly higher then surrounding soil.

Low hum detected again this morning.
Instruments show fluctuations but nothing stable enough to chart yet. 

Comparing this to the Bay City stone: 
Glyph is identical in scale and shape.
Mineral composition appears similar.
Both sites show the same uplift pattern.

 

If Dahlia's timeline is correct, we may face a change on Feb 16.
Preparing equipment for continuous monitoring up to the date. 

Notes:
- Soil samples taken from north and east sites.
- Luminescence brighter today than yesterday
- No visible structural cracks, but vibration is increasing.

Working theories:
1. Pre terraforming artifact.
2. Subsurface energy venting.
3. Artificial construct of unknown orgin.

Will continue daily readings
Recommend expanding survey reading to 10 meters.  
 

On a hunch, and a tip from a friend who for now will be anonymous, I dropped by the Linden office. I found a copy of the map with the three points in Kit Linden's office, with a few post-it notes on it. The Lindens appeared to be just as wanting for answers as Bay City, if not more. 

 

And so, we're left with a few clues, but no certainty as to how they go together.  The painting at the Linden office with "rocky terrain paint" and Dahlia's conclusion the flowers grew best in higher altitudes certainly seem like an interesting coincidence. Of the theory that the stones are "per-terraforming artifacts," Bellisseria, which is between the three mainland areas, has certainly seen many territory expansions in the past. So the boulders *could* be a sign there's another one on the way. But this of course is guesswork. There's also that the estimated date for another reveal, March 18, this would be the day after St. Patrick's Day in the United States. Whether or not this a coincidence, there's no answer, at least not yet.  

 

For now, we just wait and see. And keep an eye out for new land near Bellisseria. 

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

TikTok Deal Finalized, Complaints About New TOS & Posts Being Censored

 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

A deal's been worked out to keep Tiktok going in the United States. But it's believed to come with a change that some are not willing to accept.

 

Most are familiar with Tiktok, the highly popular social media app in which people post and watch short videos. It's been especially popular among teenagers and young adults, some of whom have been able to get a following as content creators, even make a little money. But, there's been a problem. TikTok has been owned by Bytedance, a company in China, and therefore under the dominion of it's authoritarian government which has become more antagonistic towards the United States in recent years. And because of this, many see it as a security risk as it could be used to collect data from Americans that could be weaponized by China's government against the US.

Since 2020, President Donald Trump has made threats to ban the Chinese-owned social media ap TikTok over national security reasons. In January 2025, TikTok was temporarily blocked in the US following a law coming into effect, but was soon lifted by executive order when the parent company agreed to negotiate further. 

A few days ago on Thursday January 22, it was announced a deal had finally been made "from the new TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC," as the newly created company for TikTok called itself.

Today, TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC has been established in compliance with the Executive Order signed by President Trump on September 25, 2025, now enabling more than 200 million Americans and 7.5 million businesses to continue to discover, create, and thrive as part of TikTok's vibrant global community and experience. The majority American owned Joint Venture will operate under defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurances for U.S. users.
 

An article by Associated Press stated there would be an emphasis on data protection, "with U.S. user data being stored locally in a system run by Oracle. And there would be a focus on the social media app's algorithm, which was the big issue in the debate about TikTok. Under the deal, TikTok's old owner Bytedance will license it to the new US company and holds "19.9% of the joint venture." The three managing investors are the technology company Oracle, Silver Lake, a private equity firm, and MGX, an investment firm. They each control a 15% share. Among other investors is Michael Dell, the founder of the Dell Corporation. The others can be found in TikTok's press release. 

 

It should be noted that the law requiring TikTok to get a new owner prohibited “any cooperation with respect to the operation of a content recommendation algorithm” between Bytedance and any new owner. So the Chinese company's continued partial ownership may still cause some legal trouble in the future. 

However, not every TikTok user is celebrating the threat of the app being blocked again finally being lifted. In the days since ownership of the app changed hands, the rate people have been deleting it from their smartphones and computers has increased 150%. On the weekend after the deal, people began noticing glitches, that some videos wouldn't load and some were getting zero views. On Monday January 26, TikTok blamed the problem at an outage at a data center and stated they were hoping it would be resolved soon. 

But some were skeptical as stories began going around that it was certain videos that were having trouble, those with left-wing and anti-Administration political content, such as celebrities speaking out against the killing of Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis, anti-ICE videos, and mentions of Jeffery Epstein. The new Terms of Service by TikTok's new owner has also gotten criticism as information collected from users includes "racial or ethnic origin, national origin, religious beliefs, mental or physical health diagnosis, sexual life or sexual orientation, status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status, or financial information." An article by Ars Technica would say experts believed "TikTok users’ censorship fears are justified."

“Even if these are technical glitches, the pattern of what’s being suppressed reveals something significant ... When your ‘bug’ consistently affects anti-Trump content, Epstein references, and anti-ICE videos, you’re looking at either spectacular coincidence or systems that have been designed—whether intentionally or through embedded biases—to flag and suppress specific political content.”

The article would go on to say a spokesperson from TikTok would deny the allegations, that no changes have been made to the algorithm or policies about content moderation, only to the Terms of Use and privacy policy and how AI interactions are monitored, “We don’t have rules against sharing the name ‘Epstein’ in direct messages and are investigating why some users are experiencing issues."

California's Governor Newsom recently stated on Twitter that TikTok should be investigated, “I am launching a review into whether TikTok is violating state law by censoring Trump-critical content.”

Some of those who have stopped using TikTok have turned to another social media app, UpScrolled, getting 41,000 downloads over the three day period following the announcement of TikTok's new ownership when it had been averaging just 500 a day. It should be noted that when TikTok was blocked in the US temporarily last year, some started using another Chinese social media app called RedNote, but gradually came back once the better known app was back online. It is unclear what will happen if the future should the allegations of censorship fade. 

So the threat to ban the highly popular social-media platform is gone. But for some who see expressing and viewing political opinions as important, the solution has come with a heavy cost. 

 

Sources: Tiktok, Associated Press, Techcrunch, Ars Technia, Engadget, 

 

Bixyl Shuftan