Your2ndPlace

A post on the Whitfield-Hastings website suggests that CEO Cristopher Whitfield has passed away.

Whitfield-Hastings was a prominent bank that turned its attention to land sales after the banking ban. The company also has roughly 1.4M L$ invested in the WSE under Whitfield's name. The post states that Cristopher Whitfield's Second Life account was removed, which apparently provoked a legal battle of sorts between Linden Lab and Whitfield's RL brother 'Steffen,' the latter eventually receiving control of his brother's land holdings.

To put it lightly, it seems a little fishy. There's no official announcement of Cristopher Whitfield's death. Further, am I wrong in assuming that the executor (presumably 'Steffen') of the RL Whitfield's estate would have been responsible for canceling his SL account? The post states that Steffen had to fight for the holdings of the account because it was canceled. That the fight even HAD to occur on that premise makes absolutely no sense to me.

I must admit that the controversy surrounding Geyl Fapp's death has made me a bit skeptical of oddly-timed passings. A post on the WHJ forums jokingly suggested taking out life insurance on Cristopher Whitfield as a means to ensure some recuperation of funds in a company struggling to find footing after the banking ban. Was that post foreshadowing or simply dark humor no-doubt finding the author abashed in the wake of the actual death?

Further, if the land truly was transferred, is there any possibility that such a decision might extend to virtual exchange holdings? Based on the lack of information on the WHJ website, these questions don't seem likely to be answered anytime soon.

Activ8 is happy to host a series of special set of events taking place this Memorial Weekend, Friday the 23rd and Saturday the 24th - both events will be at 4pm SLT to 7pm SLT in celebration of Gena Showalter’s Novel - The Darkest Night. Gena will be present to hang out and chat with guests. The theme will be a “Demon Night” and will include 3 prizes for Most Creative Costume as voted by participants as well as door prizes for all who attend. We look forward to seeing you all soon.

Thank you,
Activ8 Staff & Gena Showalter

http://slurl.com/secondlife/ACTIV8/131/142/21

The Darkest Night
by Gena Showalter

All her life, Ashlyn Darrow has been tormented by voices from the past. To end the nightmare, she has come to Budapest seeking help from men rumored to have supernatural abilities, not knowing she'll be swept into the arms of Maddox, their most dangerous member—a man trapped in a hell of his own.

Neither can resist the instant hunger that calms their torments…and ignites an irresistible passion. But every heated touch and burning kiss will edge them closer to destruction—and a soul-shattering test of love….

More about this book...

Dear Reader,

I'm thrilled to present my brand-new paranormal trilogy, LORDS OF THE UNDERWORLD, which begins with The Darkest Night. In a remote fortress in Budapest, six immortal warriors—each more dangerously seductive than the last—are bound by an ancient curse none has been able to break. When a powerful enemy returns, they will travel the world in search of a sacred relic of the gods—one that threatens to destroy them all.

Join me on a journey through this darkly sensual world, where the line between good and evil blurs and true love is put to the ultimate test.

Wishing you all the best,

Gena Showalter

Four days ago, LNL Chairman Lindsay Druart announced the bankruptcy of L&L Credit Agency. Following this announcement was a second announcement that LNL Financial Services, parent company of LCA, would be similarly closed and delisted.

Readers may remember that LNL was the first company to delist from the WSE after the latter closed days before the banking ban. Druart received significant intention when she announced her intentions of a real life L&L Credit Union. At the time, Druart stated that the the real life counterpart would actually be a holding of her virtual enterprise. Apparently this has changed, as Druart has assured investors that real life endeavors are continuing despite the virtual delistments.

Delistment of both companies is scheduled to occur no later than May 31st. In response to investor concerns, Druart has alluded to the possibility of a 'liquidation fund' but has offered no concrete details. In fact, if the forums are any indication, the LNL announcement was completely out of the blue, being Druart's first announcements in over a month. With respect to LCA, the announcement of bankruptcy follows a disappearance of LCA CEO Sully O'Kelly. Of course, in SL terms, 'disappearance' means a few weeks to a month.

Investors have been directed to Druart's blog for further developments, of which there are none at the time of this post. Druart was not immediately available for comments.

Update:

Tonight I was chatting with Fugazi about prospects for the future. A company or business? Eventually an IPO? While we were discussing these prospects, something became extremely clear to me: In my 5ish months in Second Life, I've learned some great ways to 'avoid' making money in Second Life. I'll share these in 'Letterman-esque' "top ten" style. Ready?

10. Slingo: This is a wonderful game...if you're the owner of a gaming parlor. DONATE to the piggy, we'll take a huge cut, and you'll have a chance to win a prize. Since most gaming parlors have a policy requiring that you return a portion of the winnings (usually 20-30%), you'll typically walk away with 50L$. Of course, the establishment takes a cut of the winnings you "re-donate." Decorum requires that you tip the host/hostess 10-20% as well. Like I've always said when it comes to gambling - if you walk away dead even, you win.

9.Slingo Host: Remember when I said decorum required a tip? Yeah, people don't tip. And you'll usually make anywhere from 50-100L$ per hour, but most hosts end up using these funds trying to spice up the pot. Redundant gestures/poses will find you further in the red as you scrape up money to find a shrink.

8. Restaurant owner: Amusingly enough, I've seen this tried over and over again. Problem is...you guessed it: You don't eat in Second Life! Cafes can be pretty cool if you can get acts, but if that's your angle, try a nightclub.

7. CEO of a WSE-listed Investment Fund: Unless you're investing in a market outside of WSE, withdraw all your lindens (or "WICS") from the WSE, and keep an up-to-date record of shareholders, you're a bipolar episode away from being crucified while your shareholders end up the newest batch of victims in the WSE Tantrum Fund (WTF).

Konner McDonnell was a large part of an independent investigation into Atlas Venture Capital (AVC). Such an investigation was open to dispute, of course, and I expected dispute. I have been allowed certain information from individuals that I cannot be open about due to the nature of the information and the fact that I do not want to divulge sources.

What I will say is that, independently, the AVCIC group has released data that fits the data that I have had access to - and which demonstrates that the investigation was done with diligence (and even went through some red herrings I had not looked into). In essence, I can say publicly that even if the information presented is not complete - as someone else who has access to information and who has done his own investigating - it withstands scrutiny.

That Tyrian Camillo took issue does not surprise me - but honestly, his ad spam business is at the least severely handicapped, his bank is closed, and he would actually have to produce something of value to demonstrate a level of credibility in my eyes. Stick a fork in him. He's done.

Via notecard inworld, submitted without comment:

PRESS RELEASE

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Majority of M2B Depositors Agree To BNT Real Estate Investment Trust Conversion

As of today, Brautigan and Tuck Holdings (BNT) is proud to announce the accession of an additional L$660,000 worth of BNT Financial customers’ assets (many of whom were former My Second Bank depositors) into stock in the new IPO for the BNT Real Estate Investment Trust. This latest round of agreements concerning the compensation of BNT/M2B depositors now means that a majority of the L$4.2 million in deposits held by BNT Financial customers have now accepted the BNTFRE deal, establishing their acceptance as a class of the arrangement.

"It’s a real vote of confidence in the future of the Second Life economy to see an absolute majority of bank customers vote with their dollars in favor of this deal to salvage the asset value of their deposits," BNT CEO IntLibber Brautigan said. "Indeed, every depositor not seeking a direct withdrawal will be compensated with these IPO shares, giving these investors the chance to recoup their original worth and seek new profit opportunities in this growing market."

Former depositors in the closed M2B/BNTF are being compensated by non-depositor investors in the new IPO, for which over 40,000 shares were purchased just in the last day on the Ancapistan Capital Exchange (ACE), a subsidiary of BNT. Of the 4.2 million in deposits, over 2.2 million L$ worth of depositors have voluntarily accepted 100% conversion of their deposits into shares in BNTFRE.

The official announcement is posted here by Arbitrage Wise, and says:

We have completed our first round of share buy backs, but will continue to work on accumulating funds to continue further buybacks. Unfortunately, we had decided not to disclose the buyback ahead of time in order to prevent sellers from artificially inflating the value of the SLW shares by parking on the sell to take advantage of the buy back.

We have also unconverted all SLCapex CEO shares back to L$ in order for them to continue business as usual.

While it is unclear exactly how many shares were bought back and it also says that future buybacks will not be announced to avoid traders artificially raising prices (and thus increasing the cost of the buyback), it certainly did occur - lending some credibility to SLCapEx's conversion of JT Financial to SLWallet.

As details come in, I'll either post them here or in a new post.