My Window on the World

A while back I suggested a topic for Strawberry Singh’s weekly meme at her blog. With many of us using third party viewers and with all of the different adjustment possible, especially with Firestorm, it should be interesting to share how we see the world, how we arrange our viewers. Strawberry posted the suggestion at her blog.

My View:

I captured this with the Windows snipping tool.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

Arthur C. Clark

Marking the Passage of Time

The past week or so has seen an accumulation of milestones.

WordPress informs me I have now been blogging for 3 years. It hardly seems possible! I spent some time rereading my old posts (and adding tags). There are none I regret writing although I wish I had not titled one “Free Sex Bed”, it still gets a lot of hits, probably not by people interested in Second Life. “There is need for a “Lite” Second Life Viewer” gets the most hits. It is probably misinformed in it’s technical details, yet the number of people looking at it validates it’s basic intent.

Firestorm Viewer has also reached it’s 3^rd anniversary! The journey from Emerald to Phoenix to Firestorm was not always smooth sailing, but the viewer has always been very popular and usually has been the most used viewer in SL. What we have today is an outstanding example of the high end of what is possible. The support offered by the team via their wiki, in group chat, and in in-world classes is an example of what the Lindens “should” be doing.

On a very sad note, Nalates posts that Nomine is closing. Many of you may not remember, but in the 2005-2006 time frame there was a lot of positive publicity in both the print and digital press featuring Munchflower Zaius (Nomine) as an example of someone making a RL living in SL (see here and here). This early publicity was instrumental in attracting my attention to Second Life. If you get a chance, visit Nomine while you still can, Munch’s work is still among the best around. We wish her the very best possible in her life’s journey.

In addition to all of that, both Sandy and I celebrate RL birthdays this week. No, I am not telling 🙂

“We all wear masks, and the time comes when we cannot remove them without removing our own skin.” Andre Berthiaume

Flat Rodvik – – – –

Strawberry Singh’s latest challenge to bloggers is “Flat Rodvik Linden”.

To wit:

 

 

 

Wh-Wh-What’s going on!? Kupo!?

Second Life Luddites & Lazes

Honour McMillan’s post today got me thinking. There seems to be a lot of SL residents who are very insulated into their own little corner of the experience. As Honour points out there is a reluctance to learn even the most basic features common to all viewers. There is already a hue and cry over Server Side Baking and the necessity to update viewers (it will only get worse over the next few weeks as SSB rolls out to the grid).

Philip Linden once described SL as “perpetual beta”. Anyone who has been around for a while knows what he meant, there are almost continuous updates and new features. We, the residents, have some responsibility to keep up!

It is not like people are on their own. LL (and Torley Linden) have lots of video tutorials. They could drop by any Info Hub and there are links to help, sometimes even helpful people; or read Blogs; there is a list of them on the right side bar here, just click a picture. But they have to show enough interest and initiative to learn about the world we are in.

Illegitimi non carborundum

Pity please the poor SL Blogger

WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?

The Lindens explain – in advance – what they will be doing in the following year. They warn us that some of the changes they are working on will cause some upset, but it is worth it in the long run – and explain why!

They hold weekly meetings where they discuss the progress they are making, including the problems they have encountered. And (this is almost beyond belief) they Listen.

It has gotten so bad that residents are turning on each other! Incidents of griefing have reached a new height in frequency and sophistication. Even there, the Lindens are actively working on the technical steps they can take and explain why the simple steps that might seem obvious are either difficult to implement or would be unfair to other residents.

The Firestorm all volunteer development and support teams had to resort to a special blog post in response to the wackadoodles harassing the support groups.

WHERE IS THE DRAMA!

What is a blogger to do? Many have resorted to travelogs or fashion reviews. Some are blogging fiction or turning their attention to RL subject.

It is enough to make me nostalgic for the Good-Old-Days.

May you live in interesting times.

In Retrospect – Post#50

Observations and lessons learned since I began this blog.

On the Blog:

1- Most hits via search engines: FREE SEX BED – but… Lesson learned; be careful how you use the word sex, especially in titles. This post still gets hits, almost all frivolous.

2- Most comments: There is need for a “Lite” Second Life Viewer This post is still alive in comments after nearly 8 months. The topic is as valid now as it was then. It continues to come up in other blogs and around the SL community. The fact is, most computers sold today are incapable of running Second Life at a graphics / performance level that will make a newbie want to stay. Combined with wired internet connections being something many young people consider archaic, Linden Lab has got to do Something! I am not an expert in such things, Streaming from the “cloud”? A bare bones, extremely efficient viewer? If something is not done SL will fade into oblivion.

Linden Lab:

1- SVC=7125 Bring Back Last Name Options! Is still one of the most active jira articles with new comments almost daily. In spite of the overwhelming demand for this Rod continues to stand by his whine “it’s too hard and someone somewhere will complain”. Time to grow up, admit to the mistake of removing last names and fix this!

2- Communication with the Development team, mostly via regular in world meetings has come a long way. The minutes are then hashed over and commented on in the appropriate blogs, and social media. This system seems to work!

3- Communication from the top (yes Rod, I mean you). Sucks. Occasional comments in social media is far from sufficient. Put it in your schedule: Quarterly Update in the Official Linden Blog (turn comments off so the wackadoodles do not have a chance and we will handle them in our blogs).

4- Development Direction: Project Shining lays out the next year’s work for the development and hardware teams. It is a good plan, tackling core SL problems (although see my Lite Viewer comments above). Not everything will go smoothly of course but the goals seem realistic to me.

Community:

1- SL9B was a rousing success in spite of LL pulling out at the last minute. The organizers and participants deserve hero status! In the future it is unfair to rely on sim owners to donate the land. LL should contribute the regions to a development group, then get out of the way and let them organize and run it.

2- SL Community Convention: Another case of LL effectively pulling out at the last minute. This time there is no way the residents can step in, they probably never will be able to. Maybe LL could set up a smaller “traveling road show”. Smaller events could be set up by residents in their RL communities and 1 or 2 Lindens could come, give a talk and share a meal. That might actually work better than a huge convention.

My Second Life:

We now own all of Brocade (except the road) and about ¼ of Herald. There is the Cafe` of course and 6 little gathering places for people to sit around and socialize (ideal for guiding newbies through their first steps). Also our unique shooting range and the little Pandora Mall. Stop by and look for the “touch for Region Information” (Brocade in a box) sign for a note card with pictures and LMs.

Have you checked out “petite” mesh avatars? While these tiny avatars lack appearance customization they allow you to do an awful lot on a very small amount of land, especially when combined with well made mesh and sculptie furniture etc.

All in all we have been having fun in our second lives, I hope you have been too.

Shug.

of Geeks & Freaks

The current flap over Qarl’s Prim Alignment tool highlights one of the oldest conflicts in Second Life. Without getting into the specifics of this particular issue, the conflict breaks down to perceptions.

1. Linden Lab’s seeming view of the residents as expressed by Philip Linden is “Smart people in rural areas, the handicapped, people looking for companionship, ….”. In short, not nearly as smart and sophisticated as they are.
2. Residents often view the Lindens as a bunch of Ivory Tower Geeks with little or no experience of what Second Life is really about.

While there is a grain of truth in both perceptions, there are many exceptions and in fact the attitudes are often reversed!

As residents we need to remember that whining, venting and insults are counter-productive. I would not want to have the job of wading through a jira full of vitriol to find the few gems of productive input. If you really need to vent, start a BLOG, it works wonders when you have to think about what you are saying and post it under your own byline 🙂

The Lindens need to take a moment and THINK before they comment or set status at the jira. Your input needs to be not only factual, but sensitive to the frustrations of residents.

I certainly do not recommend a return to a heavy handed PR department or the silent treatment that we have endured in the past. Perhaps the Lab would be well served by a Miss Manners quietly looking over people’s shoulders and holding their hands when they trip into a social quagmire.

Remember, I’m pulling for ya. We’re all in this together! Red Green

Where to begin?

I have been posting to other peoples’ blogs for years, it just seems like time for me to speak for myself.

Here I will post my thoughts and ideas, primarily about Second Life, but who knows where my mind will wander. Having been in world almost every day since August 2005 I do have an opinion or two.

Check back, I will try to post every few days as thoughts enter my scattered brain.