Linden Moles are not skin growths or a unit of measurement in chemistry...
The Moles are Second Life residents contracted by Linden Lab as part of the Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW) to help create, develop, maintain and upgrade content inworld such as roads, bridges, landscaping. For example they helped build the famous Bay City, the first LDWP project. With the on-going roll out of the new regions and Linden homes on the continent of Bellisseria, and the Moles important roll in that, they have been very much in the spotlight this year.
The LDPW wiki page (linked above) lists past and present Moles, some of whom have very witty names.They all have the surname 'Mole', the origins of which according to the Wiki is reference to some graffiti in some of the original Second Life Regions , "Beware the Mole People!". I think some have had Mole avatars in the past, but most seem to have more personalised avatars now. They even create their own cute Mole bears (two I have are shown in the image above) which they will give you a copy of if you ask nicely (not whilst they are in the middle of working on Bellisseria of course).
Linden Lab decided to keep the Bellisseria development process and open one rather than closing off regions to members of Second Life. This allows anyone to visit the regions and watch the Moles at work, and see the general build process which I think is a great idea. It's fun to watch a region develop from an empty grassy or sandy area into one filled with trees, waterfalls, homes and other features, and gives somewhat of a better understanding of what's entailed.
The Moles have become so popular during this period of Bellisseria building that there is even a thread dedicated to them over at the Second Life Linden Homes forum, as thanks for the lovely work they have been doing in developing the new Linden home regions (hence the title of this post). There was also a Mole Day celebration this year, which sadly I missed:(
Whilst on my travels recently I discovered the a region called The Theater which has...well, yes...has a theatre.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Theatre/79/128/27
This must be quite an old build as it's set among a number of older Linden Lab regions which house offices, a conference center and even a moon base! But as far as I can remember I don't think I've ever visited the place before. It's a great looking theater, however it's empty of activity which I think is a real shame (it would be nice if Linden Lab could make it a bookable events place, I'm sure there are many machina, dance, or other artists and creators in Second Life who would like to show their work in the theater).
Anyway, the relevance of the theatre to this post are the very humorous Mole themed film posters on the foyer walls:
The posters really gave me a good chuckle, a really nice touch for the venue.
There are other references in various places across Second Life to Moles, such as Mole Mart where you can get some older free building items such as lamp posts, road signs, built by the Moles. These are prim not mesh items and are a bit heavy in terms of land impact. There are only a few items available, but it's a nice place in terms of Second Life history and nostalgia.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Leafminer/201/139/35
If you look at the Second Life map, just south of the mainland, you'll find a cluster of regions called Mole Island. Sadly you can't teleport there as these are private areas. I'm guessing these are regions where Moles can test, experiment or learn inworld.
The Moles
have contributed to a number of builds in Second Life over the years,
and one way to discover some of these is to visit the 'Mole and Mole'
travel agency at Barneys Bay
(http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Barneys%20Bay/129/222/29), which
is a cute seaside town built by Moles, consisting of various
shops, cafe, pub, and the travel agency. The store hosts landmarks to a number
of Mole built places, just click on the travel brochures to get them. It's also a nice place to stop and rest, with comfy chairs and a roaring fire.
Do check out the other stores whilst you are there, such as the cafe with interactive coffee and cakes:
My last Mole find for this post is Meauxle Bureaux, (which deserves a whole blog post dedicated to it, I'll try and get to that soon!), - an adorable little town. A number of moles have a 'home' there which you can visit as well as some shops and places to relax and hang out. It's so much fun to just walk around exploring:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Meauxle%20Bureaux/183/128/32
There are some nice finds here, so I thoroughly recommend exploring . You never know... you might bump into a Mole too whilst you are there!
What is also cool is that if you are a scripter or builder of content in Second Life (or have other applicable skills) you can apply to be a Mole too! You can find the information on the LDPW wiki page linked to at the top of this post. What a great way to be able to do something you enjoy whilst contributing to the on-going development of Second Life!.
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