Here's a gentle reminder that TODAY, the voting ends for the Seburo-'n'-more photo Contest. You'll want to go here to vote before the thang closes today at 5 PM (PST). Remember, you can vote as many times as you want, so that none of your faves are left out! Choose wisely.

The newest edition of The Second Opinion — Second Life's own monthly-or-so newsletter — came out a couple of days ago, and I'm late on the ball because for whatever reason, it wasn't sent to my email addy (even though I'm signed up). Awww shuckleberries.

The popularity of Snapzilla, a fun technology I champion, continues to surge as Linden Lab has featured it on the front page of SecondLife.com, and word is spreading for more to share their photos. A key thing here is "spontaneity" because it's just so darn easy to get your stuff up in a matter of minutes. Great smile factor. New features include comments (which I jokingly refer to as Anotations, LOLZ), and there are handy instructions now. A fun place to showcase a friend's new hat or find a friend who likes the same colors as you — hi Marle! — or even look sexay. <— My gosh, what happened to the sun's reflection?

HAD A CHANCE TO PLAY WITH THE SECOND LIFE 1.6 PREVIEW YET? KEWL NEW FEATURES! Yes, really . . . mebbe you don't wanna spoil the surprises for yourself, but all the same, you can help report bugs and make SL a better place to live. Communal theatregoing experiences will now be a part of this cyberzeitgeist, I believe, and I'm looking forward to scanning and panning so long as fellow 'goers disable their cellphones — and particle poofers! Also sighted on the 1.6 pregrid: alternaTorley in a dashing blue-and-orange jumpsuit. She is not me, and yet she is.

Master of metaverse vehicular activities, particularly those which engage in aerial maneuvers, is Cubey Terra: new-and-improved with his Mk. III hot air balloon. As he sez, "…I wanted to make piloting a hot air balloon as easy as falling off a log." Customizable, full-featured, and has the SL flag on it — how amazingly jingoistic is that in a good way? Eggy and I took to the friendly skies, glad to get our puffy gr00ve on at last after a previous failed attempt. We flew from west to east, and the twain met many times.

My recommendation of the day: get yourself an Emoti-Buddy. By Fuzzy Duck Productions, it does what it sounds like it does. Sits on my shoulder, and when I make a face, it does too. Also does BUSY mode, which I'm gonna test out under some real-virtual-world conditions soon (aka "Sorry I can't chat in the open 'cuz I'm in an IM STORM!!!"). I'm a big fan of emoticons, and what's more, this is a good deal — I bought it for L$100 — and Fuzzy is dogged (ducked?) on improving the thinger and adding more smilies and features. If you notice some of your favorites missing, get in touch with the duck. Simple idea, done well.

Nutritionizaling the Residents of Second Life. Only in Second Life. But to paraphrase Jill Linden, "ew" on the goat milk (that's me!). You know, one thing that's occurred to me would be a cereal bowl with a partition down the middle so that you could enjoy two of your fave breakfast crunchies discreetly, but at the same time. Or fill 'em both with the same thing (Corn Pops used to be a fave) and only put milk in one half. Something like that.

I've gotta clip-and-save this thread, lest I ever forget. And why hasn't anyone else posted to it? Surely there must be more nice things to say. <3>