Filed under: Educational, Odds and Ends
Friday, December 29, 2006
Monday, December 18, 2006
Support the supporters
Filed under: Entertainment, Educational, Exploration, Mixed Reality
Support for Healing is having some financial trouble keeping their wonderfully helpful island going, along with Support for Healing itself. If you have some spare ellz to donate, or some loose change in your Paypal account, please find a little to give to this generous venture.Support for Healing provides support for the mentally ill, depressed, suicidal, and confused, as well as those with chronic physical illnesses that severely impact the mental health and stability of the sufferer. Their island in Second Life is a calm and relaxing place, perfect for taking a breather from the stresses of Life or Second Life.
Support for Healing needs your support. Support those who are ready to support you.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Spotlight - Amsterdam
Filed under: Entertainment, Shopping, Exploration
Created by Stroker Serpentine, and his able partner Fyre Raine, sim Amsterdam started out as a single sim, that has since grown into a network of 11 sims, with no apparent end in sight. One of the first things that really stands out about Amsterdam is the attention-to-detail. It feels very much like a real place, with signage, advertising, imperfections and litter.
Benja Soon said it made him miss the real Amsterdam, and lauded the accuracy of the design, "If the map went two more blocks to my right, I could visit my old apartment."
Within a week of it opening the stores were already beginning to fill up with hopeful sellers, and the streets and skies started to fill up with visiting avatars. Throughout 2006 the inhabitants, visitors and vendors of Amsterdam have refit and reinvented themselves again, and again. Amsterdam is always busy. In fact it is one of the busiest places in Second Life. Not just because of the realistic feel, but because of the undeniably mature atmosphere.
(Mature content below the fold)
Second Lifers are all over Amsterdam, walking, shopping, chatting, dancing, clubbing. They're dressed, half-dressed and undressed by turns. Amsterdam is unashamed, yet curiously calm. Armed assault is certainly less common here than (for example) a quick knee-trembler in a side-alley. Sex happens in Second Life. Sex happens everywhere that people gather, like gambling, sex is an activity that humanity brings to every place it inhabits.
Metaverse prostitutes (or am I supposed to call them escorts this decade?) of either gender, no gender, or more than one gender calmly negotiate with potential clientele, the discussion is practical, businesslike, and unhurried. You've walked past this conversation a hundred times in a hundred cities in the real world, there's not much difference here in the online world.For mature entertainment, Amsterdam and it's adjacent regions seem to have the lot. From luxurious, elegant clothing and jewelry, all the way down to the gritty and seamy. Sex sells, and Second Life's Amsterdam sells it very well indeed, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsGoogle TechTalks with Rosedale and Ondrejka
Filed under: Educational, Linden Labs, Odds and Ends
The above video is from the Google TechTalk series recorded on March 1st of this year. It features Philip Rosedale and Cory Ondrejka showing off Second Life explaining the roots of the Second Life software. It is about an hour long and recorded with closed captioning. So, you can burn a quite hour at work reading along with this one.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Friday, December 15, 2006
Goo Attack - Attack of the fast, hard to see ... cube thing
Filed under: News, Odds and Ends
At 5pm While not very widespread or impressive visually, the replicating cubes moved very, very quickly, and were not always visible. They were all owned by an avatar named "The Gymnast", now missing from Second Life's directory -- Linden Lab is notoriously swift with the ban-stick when a goo attack takes place.
Vessus Candour was momentarily taken aback by their high velocity. "These were the fastest ones I'd seen," she said, " I thought someone was shooting things at first."
Hardworking Linden Liaisons promptly attended affected locations, closed off scripts on those regions, and cleaned up. Final cleanup is still in progress with scripts still disabled in at least one region, but hardly any of the 12,000 residents on the Second Life grid at present are even aware that something happened.Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Two millionth signup - Today?
Filed under: News, Accounts, Odds and Ends
Well, we're going to have our two millionth signup very soon. Either shortly before midnight SLT tonight (Wednesday) or in the early hours of Thursday. That's a million signups in ... what? 57 days? Sure, 90% of those people disappear before they've gotten through their first 90 days, but I've met (and still meet) some of the most amazing people.Everywhere I go, I meet creative, talented, thoughtful, witty, kind or just plain interesting people. People I'd never have had the chance to meet otherwise. People I'd have been too scared to meet otherwise. Sure, these days there's just too many of you for me to ever catch up with, but at least I have the chance.
Sure, resources are stretched, everything's tumultuous, and we've got no idea where we're going...but would you rather be anywhere else? Obviously not - because you're still here.Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsFour Eyed Monsters Comes to SL!
Filed under: Events
Yay! Having posted about this previously, I'm happy it finally came to fruition. Four Eyed Monsters looked like an interesting film, but it seemed like I wouldn't ever get a chance to see it, as it was only being screened in selected areas, depending upon written-in requests for showings. While this allowed the film's creators to keep their costs to a minimum, it also meant that you had to travel to one of the screening cities to see it, thus reducing the best form of advertising: word-of-mouth.However, the Sundance Channel, with the help of the Electric Sheep Company, will create a screening room in SL to premiere the film to residents. For more information on the movie, go to the Four Eyed Monsters site. For more information on the build itself, go check out the Sundance Channel's blog.
(Via elitestv.com)Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Useful Technology Launches in Second Life on 17 December
Filed under: Educational, News, Interviews, Stories
Nerine Kasei is the energetic and friendly Marketing Manager for Useful Technology Corp (UTC). Useful Technology is preparing to launch Usability Island (despite recent disruption from a fire, and a Second Life software update) as a community-oriented effort in conjunction with their Linxter software. We spoke with her about UTC's upcoming launch in Second Life (on 17 December) and its recent announcement of educational support.Usability Island is designed with a couple of goals in mind. Product assessment surveys in this case. People will be able to set up booths where they can have their product evaluated by Second Life users, in exchange for some reward (a gift or payment of L$). Useful Technology will be using it to get feedback on the new user interface of their Linxter suite of software. "Our Linxter product is going on closed beta on Friday, Dec. 15. While we put some major major hard labor into it, we're not sure how users will react to it. Thus, we're starting off with something small, the UI in this case, and seeing how the early technology adopters of Second Life react to it.", said Kasei.
People who participate in UTC's UI assessment, from the 17th will be compensated for their part in the survey. UTC is planning a rewards/loyalty program for regulars who provide useful feedback. "I believe that UT and the various vendors using our services truly will benefit from honest answers from the Second Life community," explained Kasei, "For this brutal honesty and verbose answers offered, there are plans in the works for a loyalty program for frequent, excellent testers."
Kasei is enthusiastic about Linxter, UTC's new flagship product, "Linxter is your digital life, in one sweet package. It combines the ease of IM/Email communications with bookmark managers, blogging, advertising, identity management while maintaining 100% security. Under our identity management application, you'll be able to swiftly change your identity on the fly. From work life, to personal life, to that secret hidden life that you don't want anyone to know about, it's managed under one package. When you change identities within our identity book, your bookmarks change, your IM name changes, your email address changes, the ads that you select changes, etc."
So, what's the attraction of Linxter to Second Life residents? Kasei explains, "We'll also be offering support for virtual identities, with Second Life being the first supported. Switch to your SL identity, and you'll be emailing to your contacts under that name, you'll receive directed advertising from Second Life vendors that you have a relationship with, you'll be able IM with your Second Life friends while you're offline, but they are in world. It extends your Second Life persona and gives you the conveniences of the real world."
Kasei also points out portability and convenience as major features, "Everything you send or receive is uploaded into our Amazon Web Services cloud. That means if you're at any computer with Linxter installed, you can retrieve that file attachment you received months ago, or that email you sent yesterday. It's all just there."
UTC is also planning on providing educational support, as previously mentioned, for both Real Life and Second Life topics. Support includes Audio/Video support, inworld advertising and promotion on Usability Island.
More information on product evaluation, being an evaluator, and their educational support programs will be available on Usability Island from the 17th of December, or you can IM Imami Inada (Business Development Manager), Aertisan Fei (Virtual Worlds Manager) or Nerine Kasei herself for more information.
[Update: It is Useful Technology Corp (UTC) not Useful Technology Inc (UTI)]Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Achieve longer and harder classifieds without patches or pills
Filed under: Entertainment, Shopping, Educational, News, Business, Linden Labs, Exploration
Jesse Linden believes that the issue that plagued the previous attempt to auto-extend classifieds (as recompense for all the problems with the classifieds system since the update) has been found and fixed, and sometime after midnight SLT, we should know whether or not it worked.This only extends classifieds which were listed last night (December 11, 2006) by one week. It's expected that many people who did place classifieds that ran during the affected week that were one-shot classifieds, or that were no longer running last night may feel that they were unfairly treated.
On one hand, it's understandable that trying to backtrack to the affected period and provide some sort of fair recompense for each and every classified-placer that would have been affected is an expensive and infeasible task, on the other hand it's also to be expected that some of the classifieds that get extended as a part of this (assuming it works as it is intended) will not be ones that were affected by the service outage. Now we're into damned if you do, and damned if you don't territory. Cross your fingers for midnight, and we'll see if anyone's classifieds gain the anticipated inches.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
IBM To Open Islands In Fantasy World 'Second Life' (CBS 5 Bay Area)
IBM Corp. is launching an ambitious marketing campaign in the hip virtual world "Second Life."
China Life sees $3.6 bln Shanghai listing in Jan (Reuters via Yahoo! Asia News)
SHANGHAI, Dec 13 (Reuters) - China Life Insurance Co. will launch a 28 billion yuan ($3.57 billion) A-share offer this month and list them in Shanghai in January in what would be the second-biggest share sale ever in mainland China.
IBM to open islands in popular 3-D fantasy world Second Life (The San Francisco Examiner)
SAN FRANCISCO - IBM Corp. is launching an ambitious marketing campaign in the hip virtual world "Second Life." Big Blue has developed 12 "virtual islands," and most will be open to anyone with a Second Life account starting next week.
IBM to give birth to Second Life business group - ZDNet
| IBM to give birth to Second Life business group ZDNet - IBM will launch an official group in January to deal with Second Life and other virtual realms from which the company hopes to profit. ... IBM to open islands in virtual world IBM to open islands in popular 3-D fantasy world Second Life IBM to open islands in popular subscription-based 3-D fantasy ... |
Second Life: What are the real numbers? - Corante
| Second Life: What are the real numbers? Corante, MA - Second Life is heading towards two million users. Except it isn’t, really. We all know how this game works, and has since the earliest days of the web: ... |
SUNDANCE CHANNEL IN SECOND LIFE - Elites TV
| SUNDANCE CHANNEL IN SECOND LIFE Elites TV, TX - Sundance Channel today announced the creation of a virtual screening room within the online community of Second Life (SL). The announcement ... |
Sundance Lives a Second Life - Multichannel News (subscription)
| Sundance Lives a Second Life Multichannel News (subscription), NY - The network said the screening room will launch in January with the Second Life debut of independent feature film Four Eyed Monsters, by Susan Buice and Arin ... |
Reader Inquiry: Do you have a Second Life? (Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune)
Do you have a Second Life? We're looking for Second Life members to talk about their experiences for a newspaper story. If you're interested, email John Reinan at jreinan@startribune.com.
iVillage Launches Girls' Nights out in Second Life - Marketing Vox News
| iVillage Launches Girls' Nights out in Second Life Marketing Vox News - As part of a national TV, outdoor and online branding campaign, women's portal iVillage has launched a presence in virtual world Second Life - but unlike many ... |
Le Web 3: Second Life firms 'not yet strong enough' - E-consultancy
| Le Web 3: Second Life firms 'not yet strong enough' E-consultancy, UK - Despite a raft of headlines about its potential as a shopping environment in recent months, Second Life creator Linden Labs has conceded that few of its ... More People Read PSFK Than Visit SecondLife |
China Life nears $3.6 bln Shanghai A-share offer (Reuters via Yahoo! Asia News)
SHANGHAI, Dec 12 (Reuters) - China Life Insurance Co. plans to launch a 28 billion yuan ($3.57 billion) A-share offer in coming months in what would be the second-biggest share sale ever in mainland China.
Maker of the Linxter™ suite responds to the recent removal of paid educational event support by Linden Lab
Filed under: Educational, News, Business, Odds and Ends
Nerine Kasei of Useful Technology (whom we recently mentioned) offers us the following information about supporting instructor/educators in Second Life, now that Instructor subsidies are no longer paid by Linden Lab. We'll be hearing more about Nerine Kasei and Useful Technology before their launch on the 17th of December.Plantation, FL - Useful Technology[TM] Corporation, an emerging next generation technology company and makers of the Linxter[TM] software suite, announced today that it will offer educational stipends to instructors who hold their classes on Usability Island, the company's virtual outreach island in Second Life.
As Second Life continues to grow, so do the responsibilities and roles of Linden Lab, the creators of the online virtual world. CEO Jason Milgram believed that while Linden Lab removed monetary support for educators within Second Life, they have instilled enough community spirit to inspire others to follow in their footsteps. Milgram hopes that Usability Island will not only assist programmers, designers and artists, but educators and nonprofits as well.
"Supporting educators within Second Life is an important cornerstone of this user created virtual world." said Milgram. "Useful Technology's goal is to create new paths and opportunities for information exchange. Second Life allows individuals, regardless of geographic location, to interact with each other, as well as organizations and businesses in a way previously not possible. We are glad to be able to extend the use of our island to support educators and provide them stipends, assisting with the continued growth of this multimedia rich interactive world."
After educators register with Useful Technology[TM], they will be granted full access to the Usability Island Educator Center to prepare for future classes. Classes will be required to be open to the general public for free. After a successful class where more than five people attend, an educational stipend will be offered to the instructor.
Instructors will also be given access to other services on Usability Island, such as interactive surveys with immediate result reporting, a public amphitheater for large events and event advertising throughout the island. Also, instructors will be able to rent booth space at the Usability Mall to conduct product or service usability studies at a reduced rate.
Milgram noted that a public beta of the Linxter[TM] software, including secure tools to allow Second Life users to extend their virtual identities while not logged into the virtual world, will be available mid-December. The software will be a free download for end users.
About Useful Technology: Useful Technology[TM] Corporation was founded in 2003 with the goal of creating new paths and opportunities for information exchange. Useful Technology is an IBM Business Partner as well as a member of Microsoft's partner program. Its prestigious advisory board includes: former Secretary of Commerce for the state of Florida, Charles Dusseau; Alfred Seifert, the former Director to the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command at the Pentagon; Gregory Brill, founder and president of Infusion Development; Stephen Rosenthal, the former United States Department of Justice attorney; Arne Themmen, a Senior Vice President with Northern Trust Bank of Florida; and Stephanie Toothaker, a partner with Blosser & Sayfie and a government relations specialist who previously served as Special Counsel to United States Senator Robert Graham assisting the U.S. Senator in his role as chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee.
The makers of Secure Email and The Linxter [TM] Suite, Useful Technology Corporation is headquartered in Plantation, Florida. For more information: http://www.useful-technology.com or call 954-727-8482.
Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Oops - Linden Lab does NOT extend classifieds
Filed under: News, Business, Linden Labs
Word is trickling down the line that the automatic extension of classifieds just plain did not work. The extension was already criticized by residents who had one-shot classifieds during the affected period, and obviously are not compensated or benefit from the free extension. However the extension apparently didn't take.Linden Lab's weekly CommMonkey, Jeska Linden, tells us that the renewal failure is now under investigation. It can only be hoped that someone figures out what went wrong. However now that we've gone past the renewal date itself, it's probably going to take a lot more work to get right. Attitudes among classified advertisement placers range from 'indifferent' to 'livid', with the median being 'bitter'.
Obviously there's issues with any ad-hoc manipulation of the database, outside the normal parameters of the services it was designed to provide.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Zee Linden posts new economic data
Filed under: News, Linden Dollars, Business, Accounts, Linden Labs
Zee Linden announced the posting of five new economic graphs and some supporting data today. Data that we've been hungry for, for quite some time.This data includes premium user accounts (which grew by an impressive 30.4% in November, to 42,400), user hours (7,464,000 in November, up from 5,722,000 the previous month), land area (254.7 square kilometers) and an interesting set of data about the economy.
For those of us that don't read the raw numbers well, there's some colorful graphs that illustrate the rates and trends, and are well worth the look if you're interested in the growth and health of Second Life as a going economic concern.
There's some interesting lumps and bumps in the data that bears further analysis. While the trends are generally upwards, there's obviously something more complex going on under the surface of these figures.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Interview: Eureka Dejavu
Filed under: Interviews
By gar, it's been a while. I've done a few interviews during my time here, but I can easily say that interviewing Eureka Dejavu was by far the easiest one of the lot to do. It's not that the others were in any way difficult or unpleasant, but that conversing with Eureka was like talking to an old friend. This interview occurred over the course of two visits, and the second time was just as easy to fall into as the first.
Eureka is a freelance investigative journalist in her RL, and it was her continuing series for the Huffington Post that caught my attention. She's interested in social dynamics in SL, and who can blame her? Our conversation, however, turned to other things. In fact, it turned so often that it would resemble a bramble bush if presented schematically. I've trimmed out those parts of the interview that concerned personal matters, yet what's left is still good reading. Thanks again, Eureka; I'm looking forward to talking with you again! (More interview after the jump!)
How long have you been a resident, and what brought you to SL?
I first heard about SL only a few weeks ago, and became a resident that evening. [I] decided that as an investigative reporter and columnist it was a world well worth exploring. I worked at AOL ten years ago and wrote an article for the Village Voice, a cover story, about my experiences there as a vulgarity censor. This work in some ways is an extension of that work, journalistically.
It was extremely interesting and surprising, and the things people say about SL now are the same that people said about AOL back then in some ways. By doing this work I am exploring the evolution of virtual social systems. It is a sociology experiment.
What was it like being a censor?
I was a "monitor" of screen names and profiles. I have no particular problem with profanity, having grown up in Brooklyn. I only did it for a few months. I wanted to find out about the internet and AOL. It was a great experience, eye opening. I've been a writer ever since.
What did you do after that?
I am an investigative reporter and columnist, but I also have a business writing intimate stories about people's lives for private use in families so the members can understand one another better, and I am a process observer for families, businesses and other groups, meaning that I write about the dynamics between group members.
Do you have a journalist's education, or did you just fall into it?
I became a journalist in 1999 after seeing Dan Eldon's book, The Journey is the Destination. He was the youngest Reuters photographer ever. Stoned to death in Somalia in 1993 with three other journalists. He left behind a collection of journals that inspired me to become a journalist.
I spent the last year traveling back and forth to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, writing about corporate profiteering post-Katrina, and participating in a think-tank for the rebuilding effort. So my work these past years has been serious and dark, depleted uranium, Iraq.
How is it affecting you?
Well, needless to say this assignment is much more entertaining although it still addresses the depth of the human condition in a different way. I consider myself a chronicler of the evolution of consciousness, and this is part of the way our minds are changing, and the way we interact.
A good tag line for a movie of SL would be: "When you can have anything you want, what do you want?"
That's a great point because it often fascinates me how people are extensions of themselves here. It is also making me see real life differently.
I am having a problem paying people at the moment.
What's the trouble?
The Linden doesn't transfer. My landlord had to let me slide on rent until I get it worked out.
Your SL landlord, you mean?
Yes. My RL landlord refuses lindens. He is SO behind the times. And may I add that if he showed up here shirtless with a rippling six pack the way my SL landlords do I'd be a little freaked out.
What's the character on the wall to your right?
Dream, because to me this is all a dream.
Was your intention to focus on sexual activity from the start?
No, it's only a part of what I'm doing. As an investigative reporter I'm always looking for interesting ways to get people to read about subjects of substance. Throwing sex, money, and fame into a sociological experiment is a good way to do that.
I started off studying Western philosophy, but ended up with a wild passion for Eastern. I study Buddhism although do not consider myself a Buddhist per se. I think those studies have helped me to make sense of SL/RL, in the sense that many of the Buddhist concepts such as non-attachment are damaged in translation. So many Westerners misinterpret and when they think they are practicing Buddhism in many cases they are half-practicing a twisted interpretation.
SL is an interesting realm and it is like cave paintings to me. It represents the infancy in the next major milestone in the evolution of consciousness. By which I mean that presently, human beings cannot escape the loaded concepts of race, gender, age, etc., but in SL you are limited only by your ability to express yourself, and therefore a new form of segregation, i.e. creative elitism, will arise. This is the best thing that could possibly happen to society, in my opinion, although many people who don't get it disagree with me.
History proves that people cannot transcend cultural conditioning, at least not as a mainstream movement. I see a massive potential here. It is necessary to be conscious about that instead of just allowing it to unfold organically.
For example, why do they have boxes in SL? I blogged about that yesterday. Boxes are a nuisance in RL ... why carry them over?
People still need the comfort of metaphors.
That is so true, and so significant. Everything here is a metaphor. So in order to be "true" to yourself, you start to amplify that dream part of yourself. In my case the thing I cherish most in the world is making true and meaningful connections to people. People either love that or get intimidated by it.
In SL everything is about connections.
I totally agree. It's what keeps me coming back. I cherish the friends I've made in here, because they're friends based on mutual love of concepts.
You said it; love of concepts. All the mundane facts of reality are eliminated, and that is liberating.
There's no other context for our meeting. We're not nice to each other because we work together, or have mutual friends.
There are no relationships of convenience here. I've always been one to eliminate relationships of convenience in RL.
That's a pretty evolved concept.
I may have told you I expected to come in here once and that would be that. I never expected to actually enjoy it, much less find such hope for the future of humanity.
Philip Linden would love to hear that!
Philip and I are becoming friends. We have wonderful philosophical conversations.
Really? How did you meet him?
He got in touch about my blog, and then we just started chatting. The dream symbol is in his honor although he doesn't know that. Because this is all his dream.
He will after this!
That's fine. The critical thing to me is to approach this as a step-at-a time adventure. In other words, I don't do extensive research ahead of time on specific issues, etc. I just explore as things come up, and I don't judge the content of what I see or experience, because I think that would be employing RL mores, etc. in SL.
But then I am torn about that ... I mean, we are all still human beings ... so are we creating avatars as reflections as a part of ourselves, or as autonomous entities? And what are the ramifications?
The short answer is: Yes, to everything. It's all those things, and more.
It's all new. That's what makes it so exciting to explore. It really is fun and I've been hearing stories lately about people who have been disfigured in RL through accidents and other misfortunes, who live here primarily, and they have regained themselves or discovered new parts of themselves. That is huge.
Extinction or evolution are the only two options for a species. We are facing down that fact now, with climate change and global warming etc.
Well, a favorite quote: "There's nothing like the threat of extinction to force evolution".
Who said that quote? Love it.
I'll have to look it up; I don't even remember now.
People say it's sad to interact in a virtual world instead of RL. Mind you I am a very socially gregarious person in RL at times, other times I can go into a fearfully long period of creative solitude. However, we need to radically rethink the way we use resources, and again there's a huge potential here, and that's another reason why I believe this process needs to be guided instead of just kicking back to see how it all unfolds. That's not to say that creative freedom should be monitored in any way, just that the most creative thinkers we've got ought to be giving this process some long, hard thought. How it can be used to help people connect in meaningful ways.
Another favorite, from Anais Nin: "We don't see things as they are; we see things as we are".
I love that quote.
It's something not a lot of people realize, and especially relevant when discussing SL.
"You can't solve a problem on the same level that it was created ... you have to rise above it to the next level". Albert Einstein. And this is the next level.
Buddhism applies equally well here, too, with its concept of Right Thinking.
Yes.
There does need to be a framework of thought that guides us.
That is true, and that's why I enjoy talking to Philip Linden and why I put the dream symbol up, to remind me to touch base with him as my own thoughts on SL develop, and to be mindful of his evolution as this grows.
Long term project, him.
Yes. It's amazing that you can enter this realm, truly start to be conscious and mindful of the process of others, and trust them to share the most important parts, and the most interesting parts, of themselves. Such people in any realm are true pioneers, and that's what interests me. Everything changes all the time and we can either get knocked out by that, get melancholy, or learn to roll with it.
I wonder how he perceives the process, and if it interests him as much as he hoped it would.
I can't see that it would fail to.
Exactly.
Even if only on the level of management, though I'm positive it still exists on the plane of emotionalism.
He gets badmouthed constantly. It's as if people expect him to invent another version of reality, when in fact he's gone beyond that.
It's important to remember that people wouldn't be so passionate about SL if it weren't something meaningful.
An actual real life magazine article came out about my work and I've been swamped with new clients. So I've been so busy! Do you know about my business? Dancing Ink. I write intimate stories about people's lives for private use in families and groups so they can understand one another on a deeper level.
That sounds amazing.
It's a lot of fun but also very intense. If you go to my website, there's a Dancing Ink tab you can check out.
I'll do that! Eureka, thank you so much for talking with me!Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Kiss Sadville goodbye
Filed under: Odds and Ends, Mixed Reality
Thanks to the efforts of David de Nood and Jelle Attema of EPN, as reported by Adam Reuters, we can chalk up some more media myths about Second Life. Gregarious people with good educations, do well in Second Life, as do those with few Real Life friends and some social impairment. 'Sadville' it isn't.Pakka's virtual world signal/noise rule-of-thumb says that noise (or unnecessary drama, if you prefer) comes from about 1 in 5 of any population, real or virtual whenever something changes, or has the opportunity to change but doesn't (and also that 1% generate it constantly). That certainly accounts for El Reg's perception of Second Life as 'Sadville'. Now, really, Andrew. Didn't we chat about that sort of thing some years ago? :)
It seems that the majority of us are a fairly happy lot in both our lives, although those of us that are handicapped are happier for having Second Life. There's lots of good eating in that report -- we'll focus in on some tasty tidbits later on. In the meantime you can (and should) go read Adam Reuters' summary, and then the report itself.Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Are they having any more fun?
Filed under: Odds and Ends, Mixed Reality
.jpg)
Plenty of folks express fond wishes that updates in Second Life were more like (for example) those of World of Warcraft. The indefatigable Elizabeth Wachowski, Mike Schramm and David Nelson and their able cohorts over at WoWInsider note that update days are no more fun over at World of Warcraft than they are in Second Life. Of course you're not trying to make a buck out of WoW, unless you're a Gold Farmer or some-such.What do they complain about over on the other side of the fence? Unduly long times to download the patch, crashes, lag, sudden disconnection, things behaving erratically, or not working at all for days, and 12 hours of downtime to do the update.
It's like a whole different world, isn't it? You know, over there where a company is behaving like a real business with 7.5 million paying customers. They even gave 50 cents worth of credit to compensate for the days of problems.
"The grass is always greener (on the other side of the fence) until you have to mow it."Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsPredictions for SL: Second Tense
Filed under: Odds and Ends
The inestimable Hiro Pendragon, over at Second Tense, has posted his tongue-slightly-in-cheek predictions for SL in the year 2007. I can see a couple of these things happening easily, while others are pure flights of fancy (Havok 2, anyone? What're we up to now, Havok 12?).What do you all see coming up in 2007? Drop a comment with your predictions!Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Zee Linden posts new economic data
Filed under: News, Linden Dollars, Business, Accounts, Linden Labs
Zee Linden announced the posting of five new economic graphs and some supporting data today. Data that we've been hungry for, for quite some time.This data includes premium user accounts (which grew by an impressive 30.4% in November, to 42,400), user hours (7,464,000 in November, up from 5,722,000 the previous month), land area (254.7 square kilometers) and an interesting set of data about the economy.
For those of us that don't read the raw numbers well, there's some colorful graphs that illustrate the rates and trends, and are well worth the look if you're interested in the growth and health of Second Life as a going economic concern.
There's some interesting lumps and bumps in the data that bears further analysis. While the trends are generally upwards, there's obviously something more complex going on under the surface of these figures.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Place searching spends some time kissing the canvas
Filed under: News, Linden Labs, Exploration
Like a punch-drunk, exhausted boxer, Search > Places kissed the canvas again for a count of nearly two hours from 14:35 SLT. No reason was given in the official notice, but the event markers for the map are still offline so you can probably guess that it was load and scaling issues. If it isn't (and even if it is) then hey ... we'd love to hear about it.
Pugilistic references aside, though, quite aside from being told when it goes down and when it comes back up, it would be nice to know if we can expect this sort of thing to continue to occur. In case we might be planning on showing around our friends, relatives, co-workers or customers, for example. If there's a strong likelyhood of this sort of thing continuing to happen this week, we might want to reschedule.Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Announcement: Metaversatility!
Filed under: News
There's a new player in town, brushing up against Metaverse Development Companies like Electric Sheep Company and Rivers Run Red: Metaversatility! I'll let the press release speak for itself:
San Antonio, Texas, December 11, 2006 - As virtual worlds receive more and more serious media attention, it has become apparent that development and service companies are needed to build virtual spaces and brands. Metaversatility, Inc. was formed to meet this need. With five founding shareholders, Metaversatility brings a unique blend of skills and experience to the virtual world development sphere.
Metaversatility founders Adrienne Haik (known as Adri Saarinen in Second Life), Dr. Aaron Delwiche, Peter Haik (known as Peter Newell in Second Life), Dr. John Plevyak, and Matt Daly represent a combination of creativity, experience, and academic credentials. Other team members include Rebecca Small (known in Second Life as Haver Cole) as client liaison, Brian Hayes as sales and business development, and Inga Munsinger Cotton as general counsel. They are well prepared to serve the needs of both traditional and exclusively-virtual clients.
Metaversatility offers a full range of metaverse services that spans multiple virtual worlds. Equipped to work in Second Life, There.com, Multiverse, and Open Croquet, Metaversatility also keeps a close watch on developments in other virtual worlds as they emerge. Metaversatility specializes in promotions, branding, and application development as well as metaverse orientation and business strategy consulting. Recent clients include Creative Commons, PopSci.com, the Metaverse Messenger, ICANN, SL Bank, and Dublin in SL.
While excited about the possibilities of the broadening metaverse, the Metaversatility team is also concerned with the social and cultural implications of this expansion. As long-time metaverse residents, they feel it is vitally important to maintain the freedom of imagination and intellectual development virtual spaces often represent.
Metaversatility Inc. is incorporated and headquartered in the state of Texas. For more information about Metaversatility, the team, services offered, and a portfolio of work, visit http://www.metaversatility.com.
Congratulations, Adri and Peter! This couldn't have happened to nicer folks, and I look forward to seeing what you bring to SL!Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Just Askin': How Useful is a Reputation System?
Filed under: How-To
Currently, you can right-click someone's avatar, and choose 'Rate'. This gives you the opportunity to rate someone in one of three categories: Overall behavior, Skill at appearance, and Skill at building. It costs 25L per rating, and you can leave a little message in the text field that accompanies the ratings. Sure, it's a nice thing to do, but other than that, is it useful?For one thing, my understanding is that there used to be a Negative option that has since been removed. I can see how that could quickly become fodder for bad feelings, but it can't all be wine and roses. For another thing, wouldn't it be useful to have more categories, or at least, more specific ones? Or a category for scripting?
None of this even ties in to a database, so it's not kept track of by LL; it's just a little thing that the resident in question can tally up, but without knowing the taste, or level of critical thought that the rater employs, there's no way to know if these positive ratings are worth anything. Why is it still in use?Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Place searching spends some time kissing the canvas
Filed under: News, Linden Labs, Exploration
Like a punch-drunk, exhausted boxer, Search > Places kissed the canvas again for a count of nearly two hours from 14:35 SLT. No reason was given in the official notice, but the event markers for the map are still offline so you can probably guess that it was load and scaling issues. If it isn't (and even if it is) then hey ... we'd love to hear about it.
Pugilistic references aside, though, quite aside from being told when it goes down and when it comes back up, it would be nice to know if we can expect this sort of thing to continue to occur. In case we might be planning on showing around our friends, relatives, co-workers or customers, for example. If there's a strong likelyhood of this sort of thing continuing to happen this week, we might want to reschedule.Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Thomson NETg responds to the recent removal of paid educational event support by Linden Lab
Filed under: Educational, News, Odds and Ends
Well, in the wake of the termination of Instructor subsidies, the educational support is just rolling in, isn't it? Thomson NETg describes themselves as an education company that provides online live classes with two instructors and self-paced courses with 24x7 online mentoring across an extensive array of topics to hundreds of thousands of learners and thousands of companies.For the last seven months, Thomson NETg have been running streaming audio/video classes in Second Life on their own island. Thomson NETg has partnered with the Academy of Second Learning (ASL). Thomson NETg is providing funding to ASL to manage the overall program so they can recruit, train, and deploy "a significant number of instructors in Second Life. Once everything is fully up and running, we are looking to provide in excess of 1,000 free classes per month."
Thomson NETg is looking to ASL to ensure that instructors that participate in this program are certified and maintain a high standard of quality.
We wondered if NCI was going to take advantage of this model to help with class funding and support and to supplement the sponsorship scheme that they recently began. Carl Metropolitan replied, "No--so far, NCI has had good luck in finding our own funding sources. But we can't teach classes for everyone. Multiple funding sources are good for SL education."
He was, however, very positive about the program, "It's a good a thing for education in SL--another choice for Instructors in the post-LL funding world. I think ASL is an excellent choice to administer the program for NETg."
Selaras Partridge, head and manager of ASL, was not immediately available for comment, but we expect to speak with her in the near future about this, and other educational matters in Second Life.
If you're interested in signing with ASL and Thomson NETg as an instructor, you should grab an application form from ASL in sim Eson.Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Maker of the Linxter™ suite responds to the recent removal of paid educational event support by Linden Lab
Filed under: Educational, News, Business, Odds and Ends
Nerine Kasei of Useful Technology (whom we recently mentioned) offers us the following information about supporting instructor/educators in Second Life, now that Instructor subsidies are no longer paid by Linden Lab. We'll be hearing more about Nerine Kasei and Useful Technology before their launch on the 17th of December.Plantation, FL - Useful Technology[TM] Corporation, an emerging next generation technology company and makers of the Linxter[TM] software suite, announced today that it will offer educational stipends to instructors who hold their classes on Usability Island, the company's virtual outreach island in Second Life.
As Second Life continues to grow, so do the responsibilities and roles of Linden Lab, the creators of the online virtual world. CEO Jason Milgram believed that while Linden Lab removed monetary support for educators within Second Life, they have instilled enough community spirit to inspire others to follow in their footsteps. Milgram hopes that Usability Island will not only assist programmers, designers and artists, but educators and nonprofits as well.
"Supporting educators within Second Life is an important cornerstone of this user created virtual world." said Milgram. "Useful Technology's goal is to create new paths and opportunities for information exchange. Second Life allows individuals, regardless of geographic location, to interact with each other, as well as organizations and businesses in a way previously not possible. We are glad to be able to extend the use of our island to support educators and provide them stipends, assisting with the continued growth of this multimedia rich interactive world."
After educators register with Useful Technology[TM], they will be granted full access to the Usability Island Educator Center to prepare for future classes. Classes will be required to be open to the general public for free. After a successful class where more than five people attend, an educational stipend will be offered to the instructor.
Instructors will also be given access to other services on Usability Island, such as interactive surveys with immediate result reporting, a public amphitheater for large events and event advertising throughout the island. Also, instructors will be able to rent booth space at the Usability Mall to conduct product or service usability studies at a reduced rate.
Milgram noted that a public beta of the Linxter[TM] software, including secure tools to allow Second Life users to extend their virtual identities while not logged into the virtual world, will be available mid-December. The software will be a free download for end users.
About Useful Technology: Useful Technology[TM] Corporation was founded in 2003 with the goal of creating new paths and opportunities for information exchange. Useful Technology is an IBM Business Partner as well as a member of Microsoft's partner program. Its prestigious advisory board includes: former Secretary of Commerce for the state of Florida, Charles Dusseau; Alfred Seifert, the former Director to the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command at the Pentagon; Gregory Brill, founder and president of Infusion Development; Stephen Rosenthal, the former United States Department of Justice attorney; Arne Themmen, a Senior Vice President with Northern Trust Bank of Florida; and Stephanie Toothaker, a partner with Blosser & Sayfie and a government relations specialist who previously served as Special Counsel to United States Senator Robert Graham assisting the U.S. Senator in his role as chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee.
The makers of Secure Email and The Linxter [TM] Suite, Useful Technology Corporation is headquartered in Plantation, Florida. For more information: http://www.useful-technology.com or call 954-727-8482.
Read | Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)