Yes, it's an inconvenient extra step.

Yes, it's more convenient to leave it as-is.

Yes, you may pride yourself in enabling your visitors to copy every last thing from your sim.

Yes, it does work as desired even if it can be copied...

...until someone actually copies the beacon and then puts it on their own sim, not even knowing what it is. And as they don't know what it is, and as the beacon did not come with instructions (they copied the bare beacon and not the box with the beacon and the instructions), they leave it as-is. They do NOT change or remove the beacon key. Why should they? Nothing tells them to do that.

All of a sudden, the entry for your own precious sim here on OSW will switch between your actual sim and that other sim run by the person who took your beacon with your beacon key and dropped it on their own sim. And half the time, the people who want to visit your sim will instead land on that other sim.

Now you may wonder if there are OpenSim users who don't know that the website OpenSimWorld exists. Yes, there are such people. It's mostly newbies, but there seem to be enough people who start building sims of their own while still counting as newbies. And I dare say there are enough seasoned OpenSim users who still don't know that OpenSimWorld exists.

And those who don't know that OpenSimWorld exists don't know either what this beacon is and what it's good for. Actually, just a few weeks ago, I had to explain to someone who has been in OpenSim for much much longer than myself what the beacon is and what it does.

I myself didn't know right away what the OSW beacon is and does when I started last year. For me, the OSW beacon was nothing more than a nifty Hypergrid teleporter that some sim owners were kind enough to install on their sims. In fact, apart from catching the occasional landmark, the OSW beacon was the only way for me to travel the Hypergrid.

I did NOT know about the website behind the beacon. Nor did I know that the primary task for the beacon is to connect in-world locations to the website.

Had I started to build my own sim about a month into my OpenSim usership, and had I found an OSW beacon that I could (and still shouldn't be able to) copy, I would have taken it and put it on my own sim as it was, someone else's beacon key in it and all. I wouldn't even have known that beacon keys exist.

To cut a long story short: If you let people copy your beacon, people WILL copy your beacon. With no instructions. They WILL NOT know what it really is. They WILL NOT know there's also a box with it inside plus instructions, much less where to get it. And they WILL misuse the beacon. And the entry for your sim here on OpenSimWorld WILL malfunction.

And if you ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO make the beacon available to everyone, then at least put the original box next to it. Not somewhere else on the sim, but right next to the actual beacon so that every last dummy will find it. And if you think the box looks terrible where the beacon is, then put the beacon itself somewhere where the box would look better.

BLUES 'O WEEN DJ BLUELOU Draws the curtain for GasWorks! 8PM

BLUES 'O WEEN!! GasWorks biggest event every year! And an opportunity to say one last "Thank You" to everyone who has supported GasWorks over the last several years! The event will be in the city park across from the GasWorks building, and the park is loaded with prizes for everyone to collect for free! Tonights Line up includes : DJ Phoenix at 5PM --DJ Purrrfectt Catt at 6:30PM -- And DJ BlueLou to finish the set at 8PM. Costumes! Free Prizes! And terrific Halloween Blues will be what we offer tonight! Come on over for "One Last Creepy Party" while we celebrate "Blues 'O Ween" for the final time at GasWorks! Blues always Done Right

If you haven't stopped by the Character Shop in the last week hop on over 19 more animesh and 2 stationary NPC bot collection have been added with more to come as the bot and animesh sorting continues.

DJ Kith THIS IS YOUR HOUSE Friday Night Blues Party, Rockin' The Blues at 7:30pm!!
Where: Rockin' the Blues! on Wyldwood Bayou Grid
When: 7:30 tonite! [22 Oct 2021 19:30 SLT]
It's Friday night and DJ Kith is gonna blow this party right outta the bayou!!! DJ Macy has the house rockin' and DJ Kith will take over at 7:30! THIS IS YOUR HOUSE and Kith has your blues the way you like them..hot..fast...and FABULOUS!! This DJ spins the newest, freshest..Bluesiest Blues anywhere and he gets your heart pumping...your toes tapping and the biggest and happiest smiles on your faces! DJ Macy got us started tonight and Kith will finish off the night with his famous hard rockin', hard livin', hard lovin' blues party! Get on down to the bayou and party like it's...well...FRIDAY NIGHT!!!
wyldwoodbayou.com:8002:Wyldwood Bayou

Friday!! DJ Dick Pinelli Brings the Party to GasWorks! 7PM

Friday night means one constant thing... Count on DJ Dick Pinelli to bring a party atmosphere to GasWorks Blues! DJ Pinelli has an expansive library of blues, and can pull up a Blues song to fit any topic going on out in chat. Always full throttle, the music will be Roadhouse and Blues Boogie from start to finish! It's easy to find us! Just take the HOP, put on your dancing shoes, and grab a friend or two to come along! DJ Dick Pinelli TONIGHT! At GasWorks 7PM

Halloween Hunt! Sleepy Hollow! Find the Skulls
Where: The Sprawl

Visit Sleepy Hollow for your frightful fun! Explore the Halloween sim, avoiding all types of Ghosts and Ghouls and search for well over 20 hidden Skulls scattered on the region. Collect the Skulls and you will collect Prizes from Rusty's Rags, Brick in the Wall, Patchwork Garden and others! Once you find the Skulls, either copy or buy and the prizes are yours! Watch out for the Wolfman!

Thank You for making EQG Halloween Party a success! I have posted the pictures I took from the event on the website, can be found here:
http://www.equinoxgrid.net/wpWebsite/index.php/2021/10/18/...

Look for us in November.

Also, be sure to check out Wyldwood Bayou Grid and their Anniversary Halloween weekend. No better Tribe on the HG.
http://opensimworld.com/hop/80282

Club Equinox's Halloween Party
Today. Officially starts at 3pm, however DJ Golbez will be starting at 2pm if you are interested in coming early.
DJ Rachel is expected to pick up the stream at 4pm.

If you land at Club Equinox, you will be immediately teleported to EQG Special Events region, to the venue for thie Halloween Party.

If you wish to bypass the teleport trap, you can come to EQG Special Events directly:
equinoxgrid.net:8002:EQG Special Events
http://opensimworld.com/hop/85994

My first edition of Steampunk Hand Tools now available at EQG Steampunk Festival.
Includes Rotary Gun (think cordless screw or drill), Auto-adjustable Wrench ('crescent wrench'), and a Ratchet Driver (socket ratchet drive, but this one 'drives' itself). Also includes the (ugly) toolbox. None of the tools "function", but the hand tools look great.

Inspired by a set I saw online, but I made these myself. More to come.

equinoxgrid.net:8002:EQG Steampunk Festival

now a little bit of ChinaTown on BastelWastel. have a lot of fun building it makes your world a little more interesting
etzt neu auf BastelWastel ein kleines bisschen ChinaTown . habt viel spass beim bauen macht eure Welt ein bisschen intressanter

Grüß Alle,
If you do NOT like humpa, Polka, Yodeling or hairy legs in Lederhosen! DO NOT come party !
BUT when you DO then join us for hours of Bayern fun. Lots of gifts by Modee and great music brought by DJ Xazah Halsey.
Saturday Oct. 9th from 4-6 pm, Loosecannon , 980/0/7335

Prosit,

Modee

Isn't That Song Familiar???
Tonight at Hot Daddy's, DJ Ray Blackheart takes the stage for his first set at Wyldwood Bayou!!! He's spinning "Classic Rock Covers" from 6 to 8 pm!! In contemporary music, covering or adapting older hits represents a tribute to popular songs, and acknowledgment of the original musicians and their impact on younger artists. So, come welcome DJ Ray, and be surprised by who sang what "second hand" songs!! This is going to be another BLAST of a party at Hot Daddy's!!!
wyldwoodbayou.com:8002:Hot Daddys

Virtual Discovery Tour Mardi 5 Octobre 2021
Rendez vous à 20h45 (heure de Paris) à l'accueil de VD !!!
Du jamais vu dans tout le métaverse ,un spectacle grandiose sur scène : Le Olivia Newton-John Show !!!
Danceurs ,chanteurs ,des choregraphies de folie !!!
Venez nombreux ,vous ne le regretterez pas !!!
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Meet at 8:45 p.m. (Paris time) at the reception of VD !!!
Unheard of in the entire metaverse, a grandiose show on stage: The Olivia Newton-John Show !!!
Dancers, singers, crazy choreographies !!!
Come in large numbers, you won't regret it !!!