I guess after a well deserved vacation in Maine, it's time to drag my sand-covered ass back to the Insider and resume my relentless, steadfast, unwavering pursuit of ... oh god I wish I was still on vacation! I can still smell the surf on my unwashed bikini (available soon on eBay.)

Speaking of vacation, some loyal Second Life Insider readers may recall that earlier this December I wrote about our beach houses, the very ones where I spent a sizable chunk of every summer since I was a little girl. It was by modeling the location that my family holds near and dear that I was able to make my Grandmother understand what I do for a living.

Well, I have an interesting twist.

This will be a recurring feature, every couple of weeks at first, featuring an interview with a prominent resident or associated media figure, and discussion of recent news stories. For our inaugural 'cast, we spoke with Nethermind Bliss, one of the coordinators of the upcoming SLCC 2007. I'm joined by Aimee Weber and moo money, and a blast was had by all!

Please feel free to drop your comments and questions; if we like them, they could get a mention on our next episode! Enjoy!

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You may remember our own Aimee Weber and Aimee Weber Studios created an scientific island paradise for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The above video is a tour of the end results of that development. The Tsunami build is one of my favorite spots in all of Second Life.

It was the happiest day of my life! The virtual man of my dreams proposed to me! (Uh, what's-his-name ... Ralph I think. Yeah, that's good enough.) I blurted out "I DO" with no hesitation. For the rest of my current account's life, he would be the man I would spend my early evenings with just after work, but just before Nip/Tuck and House (Hugh Laurie is SUCH a babe!)

But first things first! We needed to pick out a virtual diamond. Not just any diamond! But a glorious, gleaming, towering beacon of radiance that would that would blind the skeptics and naysayers with our eternal love! I wanted a rock that would warn ships in the harbor of shallow waters and become the new benchmark of quality for ALL jewelry purchased with four months' stipend.

A new Second Life centric magazine has hit the news stand. This one is published by Axel Springer the same publisher as BILD magazine. BILD is a tabloid newspaper and you can find it online here. The first issue of the AvaStar is available now as a PDF download. Future issues however will cost you L$150, a certain departure from the free pricing of similar magazines. The magazine is available on their website and on their island, which was built by our own Aimee Weber.

I don't really like the idea of paying for things that I can get from other places for free. However, we will have to wait to see if the quality of their content makes up for the price. Considering that we are talking about a $0.50 USD price tag, I am sure many people will be willing to give it a try at least once. If this magazine catches on we can expect to see other magazines taking the plunge into virtual publishing.

As we mentioned previously, Save The Children and Aimee Weber Studio are doing the Yak Shack fundraiser, to raise money for needy children in impoverished areas.

Today's the big Yak Shack Showdown, where you can display your customized, personalized or generally tricked out pimpin' yak, for a chance to win a fab spread in Miller Copeland's In The Grid magazine.

Come ready to show your yak at 12 Noon, SLT -- which doesn't leave you a lot of time left for last -minute styling. As Aimee says, "Be creative now, damnit!"

It's the season, people and it's a good cause besides. If you haven't donated to Child's Play (and even if you have) come by and pick up a yak to help feed and clothe needy kids.

I planned to blog about the surprise return to SecondCast of Torrid Midnight, who went off a couple of weeks ago, saying it made no sense to podcast about Second Life when she wasn't planning to be there. For those who want to reprise the whole drama, you can find my colleague Aimee's report here, and there is a vast quantity of pixellated reportage all over the web about it from varying angles. Somewhere in the archives of SecondCast ooh, a whole two or three weeks ago, you can catch her exit too. And the rest of the guys quietly stabbing her in the back the moment she went. Actually that episode is worth listening to just for that. They are supportive and sweet for the first part, in which she participates, and then lose no time whatsoever in making it clear that they would never have done what she did, and that they think she is too fragile to succeed in the big bad world of business if the comments she has had have made her give SL up. It's breathtaking, and tells us far more than they want us to know about what sort of support they are to a friend in trouble.

Kermitt Quirk is the by-now famous inventor of Tringo, the heralded game-within-a-game now ported to the Nintendo DS. Australian news source The Age recently interviewed Kermitt and grabbed a little video of both his land and a short introduction to Tringo itself.

Now, I've not played Tringo, because frankly I don't need another method of frittering away my time; I'm the addictive type, and I know it. Kermitt, however, is another example of 'residents gone good', to be lumped in with the likes of Anshe Chung and Our Aimee -- that is to say, residents with an impact so great that they've become the RL's touchstone to SL. While the videos are short, Kermitt comes across as a fairly sober-minded individual, which is probably a good thing, considering all the overblown hype the mainstream media usually generates around SL. Go check it out; links to the videos are at the bottom of the article.

(Thanks, Corey!)

Since she's either too busy or too shy to mention it, Our Aimee was recently interviewed by Secondcast, regarding the UN's "Stand Up" project, which she helped architect. Just under an hour, the interview is fun to listen to (and also features Chance Takashi, by the way) and it's always great to hear Aimee's trademark giggle!

Okay, I know everyone's excited to know who's donating prizes, and what they are. As it stands, here is the list:

• Coal Nelson donates a 'Personal Comet' head orbiter (if you haven't seen one of these, they're really cute! Come find me in-world for a look)
• Mistress Midnight donates something from her personal line of clothing (details to be determined by Mistress)
  
• Six Kennedy donates a 400L gift certificate to Gurl6 (her fashion and hairstyle store)
• Our own Aimee donates both a 1000L credit voucher to Preen and a few unreleased Preen items (to be determined by Aimee)
  
• Jakkal Dingo donates 2 800L gift certificates to The Werehouse (Like my werewolf av? I got it from Jakkal!)
  
• Tippy Fizz donates a portrait session in her photography studio (She does fine work, no lie)
  
• Trinity Serpentine donates a 2 hour set from the Radio Radio DJ of the winner's choice (though the DJ requested must either be off-schedule or this can take place during their scheduled set)
• Ordinal Malaprop donates a new object of her design (she's keeping it a secret!)

And, again, I'll offer to interview the winner if they're interested. So there you have it, a drool-worthy list of prizes if ever I've seen one. And I've never seen one, so I'm proud to be the first! Thank you to everyone who's graciously donated these prizes and for being so generous with their time! If you would like to donate a prize to this contest, you may either IM me in-world, or send me mail at akelatal@gmail.com. Good luck to the winner!

American Apparel, the RL clothing store, has opened a new location in SL! To do so, they've enlisted our own adorable Aimee Weber to create their building.

It's interesting, to say the least, that SL is beginning to be regarded as a viable option for advertising purposes. As Raz Schionning, director of Web services at American Apparel, says: "Everyone else has wings and devil horns and all the rest ... So it'll be curious to see if a red T-shirt makes sense." I've found that residents, above all else, value choice in their appearance, so I don't imagine that AA ought to be too concerned. The question is, however, will this drive sales up in RL?

This site has a nice selection of pictures of the newly-designed space, and of course, you may go visit the site itself in the Lerappa sim.

Sire records announce that they are to launch Regina Spektor's album in SL. 

There is a place in world  (two, actually) for people to go and listen to her latest release: Begin to Hope, built by the inestimable Aimee Weber.

In the interests of my readers, I have travelled there by SLUrl.  A loft-style room awaits, streaming the the album music. The build and lighting are all one would expect from Aimee, and the clever little gadgets which are streaming the music, and link to an external website, are by Green Fate. A Millions of Us logo appears on the wall.

A veteran of in-world launches, I clicked on everything I could see, but could find no freebies. Maybe they will appear once the launch is officially announced....